More Details On Canadian Broadcaster No Longer Airing AEW Dynamite

AEW

The Canadian broadcaster RDS announced that it would no longer be airing AEW Dynamite in French after December 28 2022.

The stated reason for this was down to “budget constraints”.

In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscription required), Dave Meltzer provided further details, saying:

“Canada’s RDS, which aired Dynamite in French with viewership mostly in Quebec, announced on 12/28 that it was dropping the show.

“RDS was doing budget cutting and one of the things they cut was the French language commentary on some shows including AEW.

“The RDS deal was part of AEW’s deal with Bell Media (which owns TSN and RDS), so from a money standpoint, AEW is working with the same money deal from Bell but it does hurt exposure with French viewers in Quebec.

“Bell ordered RDS to make cuts.”

Exploring the costs of the show further, Meltzer stated:

“The AEW show had no sponsorship (the WWE French language show on rival TVA Sports which is higher rated also has no sponsorship) so it loses money for the station because they have to pay two commentators, a director, a sound man, and a sound man.

“TSN only has to pick up the English feed from TBS.

“The contract signed with RDS expired at the end of the year and RDS has a one-year option for 2023 which they decided against picking up to make it part of cost savings.

“Multiple sources said ratings were not why they canceled the show.”

AEW Dynamite was broadcast on RDS from August 2022 with live commentary in French.

When it wasn’t able to broadcast live, the program would be carried on the RDS website.

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• Broadcasting
• AEW: Dynamite
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