Dixie Carter Says TNA Has Made WWE Better, Talks TNA Challenges and More Executive Q&A: Dixie Carter
As Hulk Hogan’s boss, Dixie Carter isn’t nearly as recognizable on the streets as one of the world’s most celebrated professional wrestlers. But she, after all, is the one calling the shots.
Carter is president of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), the second-largest professional wrestling company in the world, based in Nashville.
Connecticut-based World Wresting Entertainment, the largest company, acquired its competitors World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in 2001, leaving TNA as the bolder and edgier wrestling alternative.
TNA’s premier program, Impact Wrestling, is filmed in Orlando, Fla., and fills the 9 p.m. Thursday night slot on the Spike cable channel. It is broadcast in 100 countries and reaches5 million viewers weekly around the globe, according to the company.
Carter, 47, lives in Nashville with her husband and two children, both of whom attend private school.
“Do I look like I’m a professional wrestling executive?” she asked.
Carter was raised in Dallas, and her father is president of Dallas-based Panda Energy International, an independent electricity company that runs power plants across the country.
Instead of taking a career in the energy industry, though, Carter chose to make her mark on professional wrestling — in sports, let’s say.
“If I walk away at the end of my career, I hope people will say, ‘Well, at least she tried to do things differently,’ ” Carter said. “ ‘At least she tried to change the way wrestling is perceived.’ ”
Carter spoke with Tennessean reporter Bobby Allyn recently about the marketing and business of professional wrestling and the TV market to which it appeals.
What has kept professional wrestling relevant through the years?
Wrestling has been around for centuries. It encompasses action-drama, good guy/bad guy, and good and evil. When you combine all of that with some of the best wrestlers in the world, it’s a recipe for success.
And has how TNA changed with the times?
We’re not just a wrestling company anymore. We do our own booking. We do our own promotion and public relations. We’re a licensing company. We have toys, Halloween costumes, trading cards. We make our own music. All of those things are sold and promoted around the world. But we still do more than 500 hours of television a year.
You didn’t originally come to Nashville for a career in professional wrestling, right?
Like a bad country song, I packed up a U-Haul and moved to Nashville to be in the music business and started my own company. I was here in the ’90s when things were on fire. Music is still with us. My CEO is a former Sony executive. And we have a lot of other people on board who have music in their background.
Do you see any parallels between country music fans and professional wrestling enthusiasts?
We have wrestlers that girls like to stand in the crowd and scream for like they do for Tim McGraw. Then, we have wrestlers who resonate with more of a family atmosphere. And even though wrestling is predominantly a male sport in the ring and viewed (by) males, you’ll always see grandmas in the crowd. Just like country music moves people, wrestling moves people, too. It’s in a different way. But when your spirit is moved, you’re onto something special.
How has TNA been able to keep up with WWE?
I don’t care who you are, competition makes you better. There’s a reason there’s a Lowe’s across the street from every Home Depot and a CVS across the street from every Walgreens. I think we’ve made WWE better, just as they’ve improved us.
Isn’t this a tough time to be in the broadcast entertainment industry?
It’s a challenging time for the television industry as advertising dollars are dwindling. But it’s the best time to focus on fans. I try to be out in the crowds shaking hands, hugging people and holding babies and saying, “Thank you for being here.” We’ve grown this company one fan at a time. I’ve been there as a small-business startup. I know what it’s like. But we just happened to beat the odds.
Is there a misconception about professional wrestling that you would like to explode?
Besides that wrestling is fake, which is certainly isn’t. Just the way the industry has treated sponsors, the media or just people in general. Wrestling had a bad reputation for a while. People thought it was trashy. But that’s changing. I went to a legitimate sports network and the head of the company said, “Are you kidding? We have the Lakers and everything else.” I popped in a tape and he said, “OK, let’s talk.”
How does TNA find its talent?
We have a program called Ohio Valley in the Kentucky-Ohio area where we send some of our talent for training and where people come from all over the world to train. It’s like a farm league. We have people work on a skill — and sometimes we’ll bring in one of our developing wrestlers from there into a storyline. We’ve found a couple of our big stars from there.
What’s one of TNA’s ongoing challenges?
When a company first starts out, you have to do whatever you can to get into the business. Then, once you’re established, you spend a lot of time getting out of all the bad contracts that got you into the business. Deals with companies, bad partnerships or licensing deals. We’re still working through some of those now that we’ve found our footing.
How has the company responded to viewership patterns, which are moving increasingly to the Web?
The Internet has helped us more than it has hurt the business. We’re able to use additional elements of programming that don’t make it on television. We also use it as a promotional function that helps us drive the mother ship, which is TNA’s Impact Wrestling program on Spike.
Did the recession hit professional wrestling?
We went from double-digit growth for a couple years to single-digit growth. I call that a major victory. But the biggest challenge we had during the recession was so many of our partners were going out of business. Our TV partner in Africa went out of business. Our DVD partner in the United Kingdom went out of business. Our Australian DVD partner went out of business. Weeks after our video game publisher, Midway Games, put out our video game, they filed for bankruptcy. (The game still sold 1.5 million units.) After the recession, we just worked hard to plug all the holes fast.
Is it notable that you’re a woman at the helm of a largely male-driven industry?
Wrestling is such a man’s world. Most times, I’m sitting at a conference table with 30 other people and I’m the only female in the room. I don’t even think about it anymore. I treat our wrestlers with more respect than a male executive might. Most wrestlers aren’t used to being treated well by their bosses.
How do you rate Nashville’s entertainment industry?
I don’t think it will ever be Los Angeles or New York. But in many ways, it’s better. You’ll probably like what you do here better than those cities. And you can have a better quality of life here. There’s also something to be said about Nashville’s close-knit community. We all try to cross-pollinate and promote each other wherever we can.
What do you see as the next trend in professional wrestling?
Maybe pulling back the curtain a little more. People now are so reality driven. The way we view wrestling in the coming years might respond to some of that. Fans will be able to see a little bit more than they’re used to. They’ll be able to see more of the wrestlers’ unscripted emotions and drama.
A
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Dixie Carter, president of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), which is “not just a wrestling company anymore,” she says. It does its own booking, promotion and public relations, and is a licensing company.
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Q&A withDixie Carter
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Executive Q&A: Dixie Carter
As Hulk Hogan’s boss, Dixie Carter isn’t nearly as recognizable on the streets as one of the world’s most celebrated professional wrestlers. But she, after all, is the one calling the shots.
Carter is president of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), the second-largest professional wrestling company in the world, based in Nashville.
Connecticut-based World Wresting Entertainment, the largest company, acquired its competitors World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in 2001, leaving TNA as the bolder and edgier wrestling alternative.
TNA’s premier program, Impact Wrestling, is filmed in Orlando, Fla., and fills the 9 p.m. Thursday night slot on the Spike cable channel. It is broadcast in 100 countries and reaches5 million viewers weekly around the globe, according to the company.
Carter, 47, lives in Nashville with her husband and two children, both of whom attend private school.
“Do I look like I’m a professional wrestling executive?” she asked.
Carter was raised in Dallas, and her father is president of Dallas-based Panda Energy International, an independent electricity company that runs power plants across the country.
Instead of taking a career in the energy industry, though, Carter chose to make her mark on professional wrestling — in sports, let’s say.
“If I walk away at the end of my career, I hope people will say, ‘Well, at least she tried to do things differently,’ ” Carter said. “ ‘At least she tried to change the way wrestling is perceived.’ ”
Carter spoke with Tennessean reporter Bobby Allyn recently about the marketing and business of professional wrestling and the TV market to which it appeals.
What has kept professional wrestling relevant through the years?
Wrestling has been around for centuries. It encompasses action-drama, good guy/bad guy, and good and evil. When you combine all of that with some of the best wrestlers in the world, it’s a recipe for success.
And has how TNA changed with the times?
We’re not just a wrestling company anymore. We do our own booking. We do our own promotion and public relations. We’re a licensing company. We have toys, Halloween costumes, trading cards. We make our own music. All of those things are sold and promoted around the world. But we still do more than 500 hours of television a year.
You didn’t originally come to Nashville for a career in professional wrestling, right?
Like a bad country song, I packed up a U-Haul and moved to Nashville to be in the music business and started my own company. I was here in the ’90s when things were on fire. Music is still with us. My CEO is a former Sony executive. And we have a lot of other people on board who have music in their background.
Do you see any parallels between country music fans and professional wrestling enthusiasts?
We have wrestlers that girls like to stand in the crowd and scream for like they do for Tim McGraw. Then, we have wrestlers who resonate with more of a family atmosphere. And even though wrestling is predominantly a male sport in the ring and viewed (by) males, you’ll always see grandmas in the crowd. Just like country music moves people, wrestling moves people, too. It’s in a different way. But when your spirit is moved, you’re onto something special.
How has TNA been able to keep up with WWE?
I don’t care who you are, competition makes you better. There’s a reason there’s a Lowe’s across the street from every Home Depot and a CVS across the street from every Walgreens. I think we’ve made WWE better, just as they’ve improved us.
Isn’t this a tough time to be in the broadcast entertainment industry?
It’s a challenging time for the television industry as advertising dollars are dwindling. But it’s the best time to focus on fans. I try to be out in the crowds shaking hands, hugging people and holding babies and saying, “Thank you for being here.” We’ve grown this company one fan at a time. I’ve been there as a small-business startup. I know what it’s like. But we just happened to beat the odds.
Is there a misconception about professional wrestling that you would like to explode?
Besides that wrestling is fake, which is certainly isn’t. Just the way the industry has treated sponsors, the media or just people in general. Wrestling had a bad reputation for a while. People thought it was trashy. But that’s changing. I went to a legitimate sports network and the head of the company said, “Are you kidding? We have the Lakers and everything else.” I popped in a tape and he said, “OK, let’s talk.”
How does TNA find its talent?
We have a program called Ohio Valley in the Kentucky-Ohio area where we send some of our talent for training and where people come from all over the world to train. It’s like a farm league. We have people work on a skill — and sometimes we’ll bring in one of our developing wrestlers from there into a storyline. We’ve found a couple of our big stars from there.
What’s one of TNA’s ongoing challenges?
When a company first starts out, you have to do whatever you can to get into the business. Then, once you’re established, you spend a lot of time getting out of all the bad contracts that got you into the business. Deals with companies, bad partnerships or licensing deals. We’re still working through some of those now that we’ve found our footing.
How has the company responded to viewership patterns, which are moving increasingly to the Web?
The Internet has helped us more than it has hurt the business. We’re able to use additional elements of programming that don’t make it on television. We also use it as a promotional function that helps us drive the mother ship, which is TNA’s Impact Wrestling program on Spike.
Did the recession hit professional wrestling?
We went from double-digit growth for a couple years to single-digit growth. I call that a major victory. But the biggest challenge we had during the recession was so many of our partners were going out of business. Our TV partner in Africa went out of business. Our DVD partner in the United Kingdom went out of business. Our Australian DVD partner went out of business. Weeks after our video game publisher, Midway Games, put out our video game, they filed for bankruptcy. (The game still sold 1.5 million units.) After the recession, we just worked hard to plug all the holes fast.
Is it notable that you’re a woman at the helm of a largely male-driven industry?
Wrestling is such a man’s world. Most times, I’m sitting at a conference table with 30 other people and I’m the only female in the room. I don’t even think about it anymore. I treat our wrestlers with more respect than a male executive might. Most wrestlers aren’t used to being treated well by their bosses.
How do you rate Nashville’s entertainment industry?
I don’t think it will ever be Los Angeles or New York. But in many ways, it’s better. You’ll probably like what you do here better than those cities. And you can have a better quality of life here. There’s also something to be said about Nashville’s close-knit community. We all try to cross-pollinate and promote each other wherever we can.
What do you see as the next trend in professional wrestling?
Maybe pulling back the curtain a little more. People now are so reality driven. The way we view wrestling in the coming years might respond to some of that. Fans will be able to see a little bit more than they’re used to. They’ll be able to see more of the wrestlers’ unscripted emotions and drama
