Tony Khan Admits Need to Shift Focus from WWE

AEW President Tony Khan has been steering the company for better or worse over the past several years. One of AEW’s most pressing issues is the dwindling ratings over time. However, Khan has admitted that he needs to focus on doing good shows for AEW.

AEW’s viewership has seen a decline over recent years, but the promotion continues to perform strongly in the coveted 18 to 49 demographic, often ranking in the top 5 for cable programming on its respective nights, usually trailing behind major sporting events.

As AEW’s media rights deal with Warner Bros Discovery approaches its expiration at the end of 2024, negotiations for a new deal are underway. Tony Khan talked about these negotiations and AEW’s viewership trends in an appearance on Wrestling Observer Radio.

Tony Khan admitted that he needs to focus on doing good shows for AEW and not what the competition is doing. He mentioned that while competitors like WWE securing lucrative media rights deals ahead of AEW could be seen as a challenge, AEW’s strong historical performance provides favorable comparisons.

“I really need to focus on doing good shows for AEW, not about what the competition is doing. In this case, our competitor going out ahead of us and getting good media rights deals was a positive for us and is good for us because we have good historical comps. These comps are favorable for us.”

Tony Khan also claimed that others would kill to have ratings like AEW. Regardless, we will have to wait and see if AEW will end up getting a favorable media rights deal with Warner Brothers Discovery in the end.

What do you think of what Tony Khan had to say about WWE’s media rights deals helping AEW? Let us know in the comments section below!