Eli Drake On The Importance Of Impact Getting A TV Deal, Why He Re-Signed With Impact
The Impact Wrestling TV show recently made the move to late night on Pop TV and not everyone is thrilled with the new time. That has sparked debate as to if Impact should look for other options when it comes to their TV rights, including streaming options.
That topic was broached during Impact's weekly media call by Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman. Eli Drake was on the call and he thinks that using both TV and streaming may be Impact's best option.
"I think right now a hybrid is probably the best approach," Drake said of finding a balance between TV and internet streaming. "I feel like TV is kinda losing a little bit of its luster because everybody is so into streaming. I think finding a streaming partner would be great, while also having TV.
"At the end of the day, TV is still king. Will that hold over for much longer? I don't know. As far as advertisers and what not, there is money in streaming but there's also still a lot of money in TV."
Drake then brought up that some people, including his dad, either don't use streaming or have access to streaming options, so there is still a need for TV.
"I think TV is still important to reach out to different sections of the audience. But I think also moving forward, streaming and the internet are valuable and making our footprint there is necessary," stated Drake.
Drake has been with Impact since early 2015 and his contract was due to expire soon. However, he re-signed with Impact despite having so many other options entering 2019.
"I know a lot of people were tolling the death nail for me as far as my stay at Impact," said Drake. "At times I even thought I was going to move on as I had other offers.
"I did an audit of my life at the time. I enjoy where I'm living. I enjoy the money I'm making. I'm living comfortably. I was like, 'why change anything right now?'
"If I decide in the next year or so to change anything, of course I still have that option. But for now, it's 'let's step back and look at my life. Do I like it?' Yes, so I'm not going anywhere."