TNA Impact to move back to Thursday nights

TNA Impact will be moving back to Thursday nights on Spike TV starting May 13.

A prepared statement from TNA President Dixie Carter was read at the start of tonight’s episode of Impact indicating the return to Thursday nights. In the same statement it was announced that Spike TV has picked up TNA Reaction, a magazine style hype show that will have interviews, promos and build for upcoming pay per views and episodes of Impact. Reaction will air at 7 PM CST, immediately prior to Impact, which will return of its old timeslot of 8 PM CST.

The thought is that the move was made due to last week’s disastrous rating for the Monday night show, which was only a .5 Nielson rating, compared to the 3.1 that WWE drew for their three-hour Draft special. In addition the Thursday night replay of Impact earned a .69 rating, higher than Monday’s first run episode. It is evident that TNA’s loyal viewers are more comfortable with the Thursday night timeslot.

The return to Thursdays will also mean that all the shows will once again be taped, keeping with the promotion’s traditional Monday and Tuesday night bi-weekly taping schedule. There are currently no plans for live Thursday episodes. There may be more live Monday night specials in the future, but nothing is planned for the foreseeable future.

I applauded TNA’s decision to move to Monday nights. I felt it was the natural evolution of the company, as they have grown an incredible amount in just under eight years of active operation. However it was clear that ratings wise they were no match for the established juggernaut on Monday nights known as WWE Monday Night RAW.

After the impressive 1.5 rating that Impact drew on their big January 4 three-hour special, it seemed like a logical move to take the show to Mondays. However that initial success did not continue. To begin with the show ran from 8 – 10 PM CST against RAW, but when that didn’t work it was moved from 7 – 9 PM. Then the Thursday night replay was taken away, but fan outcry caused its almost immediate return.

This seems like a step back in the growth of TNA Wrestling, but perhaps the initial change to Monday nights was a premature jump. The company has a long way to go in order to truly compete with the WWE behemoth. I think a move back to Thursdays where they can regroup, lick their wounds and rebuild their small, but rabid fan base is the right thing for TNA.