PWTorch Report – Ad Revenue points to why Pop bumped Impact’s Tuesday night replay

Pop TV is finding out what Spike TV and Destination America found out that it’s difficult to sell ad time on pro wrestling television, especially non-WWE pro wrestling.

WWE has its own struggles commanding top-dollar for their programming, but TNA is in a tougher position as a second-tier promotion that does not have comparable brand strength or audience reach.

This week, Pop bumped the Impact replay from their night late Tuesday night schedule in favor of a three-hour movie.

TNA is airing at 9:00 p.m. EST, followed by “Ghost Writer” from 11:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.

It makes financial sense for Pop, which generally draws more ad revenue for an acquired movie or soap opera re-run despite drawing fewer viewers. Even in the late-night timeslot, it appears Pop decided they can draw more revenue airing something different in the Impact replay time period.

PWTorch obtained the following ad sales information capturing Pop’s business position.

The March 29 TNA Impact generated $18,414 in ad revenue, which was less than half of its “Days of Our Lives” lead-in. Impact also generated less money for a 30-second ad than an acquired movie.

• TNA Impact First-Run Airing Revenue: $18,414
• Avg. unit cost for a 30-second ad: $335

• Days of Our Lives lead-in Revenue: $44,135
• Avg. unit cost for 30-second ad: $1,100-1,250

• “You’ve Got Mail” acquired movie 30-second ad: $406

There is also the cost factor of airing a two-hour Impact episode that eats into profits as opposed to a soap opera re-run or acquired movie.

Part of the issue for TNA is that Pop is geared toward female viewers, as evidenced by the soap opera programming line-up and movies like “You’ve Got Mail.” TNA’s audience flips to male-heavy viewership, creating the challenge of trying to sell Impact individually to specific advertisers.

Through the first 13 weeks on Pop, Impact’s first-run demo split was 67 percent males 18-49 and 33 percent females 18-49.

TNA’s strength is bringing in more total viewers than any other program on the network. However, the show has yet to bring in the ad dollars of lower-rated re-runs.