WrestlingFigs > Wrestling News Posts > INTERVIEW RECAP OF DIXIE CARTER ON BETWEEN THE ROPES
INTERVIEW RECAP OF DIXIE CARTER ON BETWEEN THE ROPES
  • 09/29/2005 (7:42:17 pm)
  • Christopher Murray

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Between The Ropes
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Central Florida's Sports Radio 740 The Team
Simulcast online at www.BetweenTheRopes.com
 
On Wednesday night, September 28, TNA President Dixie Carter joined hosts Brian Fritz, Dickerman, and Vito DeNucci on Between The Ropes on Central Florida's Sports Radio 740 The Team to discuss the state of affairs in TNA on the eve of the biggest night in company history - the October 1 debut on Spike TV. The interview was taped on Tuesday evening prior to the debut TNA Impact taping at Universal Orlando.
 
Dixie began by discussing her early involvement in TNA Wrestling, outlining her first meeting regarding the upstart wrestling group to handle the marketing and public relations for the company. She believed in the vision and took the position and began with TNA five or six months before the first show in Huntsville in June 2002.
 
She told a funny story of how she met Jeff Jarrett long before TNA ever started. She lived in an apartment just outside of Dallas after graduating college. Also living in the complex was a long blonde-haired guy named Jeff Jarrett. They met in the parking lot one day and Dixie thought he was kidding about being a pro wrestler at first. Months later she heard his name on the David Letterman's show and realized he wasn't lying. Jeff and Jerry literally lived next door to Dixie with only a wall connecting their two apartments for about a year.
 
Dixie explained her family's involvement in TNA. When the initial TNA investor, HealthSouth, pulled out, Jeff details the situation to Dixie and his plans to locate new investors. She already believed in the product and knew the wrestling business thrived when there were two competitors. She took it to the people at Panda Energy, owned by her father, and they took up the investment opportunity.
 
Regarding TNA's time on Fox Sports Net, Dixie commented, "Fox Sports Net was a great opportunity for our company, the first time we were given a national platform. We succeeded and exceeded all of their expectations. We were their highest rated show, including their national prime time programming. We knew we had something really special. It wasn't just a dream to us anymore that we could do this on television. We knew that we had great pay-per-views, but we really felt like we really needed to reach the masses to expose our brand to a greater number of people. We really felt like Fox Sports Net had its limitations in the size and the way the network is set up. We started talking to a few other people, and based on what we had done there [on FSN], everybody showed interest. We were very, very lucky. In the end, Spike network was the place we felt like we had the greatest opportunity to succeed."
 
When asked if there was ever a time, amidst the money losses and ups and downs of the company, whether she considered closing down the company, she responded, "There has never been a day I felt that. I and you and all of your listeners out there have read our obituary so many times - before we started, a month after we started, three months after we started. That's been the most consistent pattern with us. People has been saying we don't have a chance. You lose money when you start a new company. How many major companies immediately make money from the beginning? We've had a wonderful business plan in place that we have met or exceeded along the way. I'm very proud of the business side of our company and hopefully we'll continue make decisions as all of these moons and stars are aligning with us right now and all of the great things that are happening. We've got DVD's out in the market for the first time ever - October 4th street date at Best Buy's, Sam Goody's, Walmart's. All of our toys are out right now. We've got a wonderful partner in Marvel Tours, probably the best action figures out there today. We've got dream partners like Universal Orlando. We're very close to announcing a video game deal. And now with Spike. To me, that's a dream team of partners. There's just no way we won't succeed and hopefully, one by one, we're shutting those doubters down."
 
Dixie elaborated on the negotiations with Spike TV. "I think they [Spike] were getting out of the wrestling business. Once you've had what you perceive is the top of the game, you think, 'I don't think we're going to go there from a programming standpoint.' But they were interested enough to take the meeting with us. I think from the very, very first meeting, they were intrigued by the uniqueness of our product, how innovative it was, how different it was from what they currently had on their air. They felt like, 'We could stay in this business and grow a brand together with a company who wants to work hand in hand with us.' Man, what could happen if two partners work together. They've been believers from the beginning. They're as excited about us being on Spike as we are."
 
She mentioned that a huge part of their decision to go with Spike over other networks was Spike's knowledge and experience in the wrestling business. She noted that Spike knows how to reach the wrestling audience and knows how to market wrestling and is not afraid of the wrestling audience and embraces it.
 
"I am very confident that this is just the beginning of a long and very successful relationship and this product will continue to grow on that network. They've been wonderful to work with, very, very involved. You've probably seen there's a dozen of them here today [backstage at Impact tapings], there were at our last pay-per-view. We've been up to New York, we've done focus groups around the country together. They're very committed to this. They want to see this succeed. They've just been great partners across the board."
 
Dixie stated that the company is still in a "growth stage" after three years and will continue to be until they are number one in the category. She noted that Simon Diamond, Shark Boy, and Sonjay Dutt are currently are a tour of India. They did an appearance in a torrential downpour and thousands of people came out to see them. The next day, they found out that TNA's TV ratings in four months had already equaled those of WWE. A similar situation involving TV ratings happened in Korea.
 
When asked how she perceives TNA when it comes to WWE, Dixie admitted, "We're definitely competition. I think competition is great for the industry. I think the people who benefit the most from competition are the fans. I think that both companies will work that much harder to put on their very best and I think that only the fans will win in that situation. WWE is by far the industry leader. We are a different type of company. We may not be for everybody. If you don't love wrestling and don't like a lot of action and you don't like that element of it, we may not be the product for you. Five short years ago, there were thirteen to fourteen million households tuning in to wrestling every Monday night. Four million now do on a consistent basis on Monday. Where are those ten million? They, at one time, loved wrestling enough to tune in every Monday. We don't have to take a single WWE fan away from them. I hope they grow two million fans and I hope we find the other eight. That's what it's all about, getting back in there and reconnecting with people who maybe got disenchanted with where wrestling was going."
 
On the topic of WWE, when the recent battles over talent like Matt Hardy and Mick Foley was brought up, Dixie responded, "They're very smart business people. Vince McMahon has not gotten where he has without being a brilliant marketer and a brilliant business man. And I commend them. They are doing everything in their power to make sure they keep as many things from us as possible. We've got an hour show and I've got so much talent in that locker room across the street here that there's not even enough time to get out there. Regardless if we would have had a couple of more names on our roster, this is the time for those people who have been with us from the beginning, those people who believed in us, those people who have chosen to be here versus there, this is their time to shine. More than anything else tonight, I'm so proud for them. I'm emotional for them. They're so talented and what they do is so unbelievably special and this is the first time a lot of people will ever get a chance to see it and I'm quite confident that they're going to like it."
 
Dixie talked about the future plans for the company. She hopes to begin touring the pay-per-views within the next year. She'd like to see the company start doing house shows next year. She really enjoys the relationship with Universal Orlando with fifteen million people visiting the area, but she'd like to take the product on the road. She's appreciative of the support of the fans in Orlando, ironically noting that Saturday night will be the first time Impact will be available in Orlando as well as Buffalo. She joked the fan interaction from the Orlando crowds is similar to attending the Rocky Horror Picture Show and the fans have done a great job in making the TNA shows an exciting experience.
 
To listen to the Dixie Carter interview and the entire September 28 edition of Between The Ropes in streaming audio, visit the show online at http://www.BetweenTheRopes.com. With the MLB playoffs dominating the programming schedule on Sports Radio 740 The Team in the month of October, Between The Ropes will experience several pre-emptions. Visit BetweenTheRopes.com regularly for scheduling information for Between The Ropes radio broadcasts in the month of October. Between The Ropes will return to its normal timeslot on Wednesday night, November 2 at 10:00pm ET on Central Florida's Sports Radio 740 The Team and worldwide on BetweenTheRopes.com.
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