AEW’s TV rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery is set to expire at the end of this year. There’s an exclusivity window during which AEW and WBD are negotiating.
Talks between the two sides are ongoing. Earlier this week, Matt Belloni of Puck News reported that AEW President Tony Khan was said to be disappointed with the current offer on the table. However, Dave Meltzer later clarified that the first offer was not disappointing, and no deal has been reached yet. Discussions for both TV and streaming rights are ongoing with WBD, not TNT Sports.
The Puck News report also noted that WBD CEO David Zaslav and TNT Sports head Luis Silberwasser want to keep the five hours of AEW programming per week on TNT and TBS, which includes Dynamite, Rampage, and Collision.
Fans quickly pointed out that Belloni has a long-standing friendship with WWE CEO Nick Khan and has had him on his podcast before. This connection has led to speculation that Belloni’s report might be a planted piece.
