Pop TV President Bradley Schwartz: IMPACT Is No Longer On Pop Due To Station Rebranding
Pop TV President speaks on IMPACT leaving the network.
From Jan. 5, 2016 to Jan. 3, 2019, IMPACT Wrestling aired on Pop TV. The show started airing every Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET, but was moved to Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET to avoid going head-to-head with WWE SmackDown. In October 2018, the show was moved to 10 p.m. ET on Thursdays.
On Jan. 11, 2019, the show moved from Pop TV to the Pursuit Channel with a simulcast on Twitch.
Speaking to Deadline, Pop TV President Bradley Schwartz discussed the decision to move on from IMPACT Wrestling after three years of carrying the show.
“We had a wrestling show every Thursday night, which by the way was one of our 10 highest-rated shows on the network. They wanted to keep going, obviously. It was two hours of original content every Thursday night, 52 weeks a year that would do 400 thousand-500 thousand viewers every Thursday night,” said Schwartz. “We had to really start focusing on brand and expectation, and I think if you’re going to pitch yourself and tell audiences that you’re this place for premium content, Schitt’s Creek, Flack, Florida Girls, this type of stuff, then people need to know what to expect from you when they come to the channel.”
Fightful provides live coverage of IMPACT Wrestling every Friday beginning at 10 p.m. ET.
