Sunday, February 17, 2019

WOW's David McLane On Why Securing A TV Deal Never Worried Him

Recently on The Jim Ross Report, WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross caught up with WOW creator of GLOW and WOW, David McLane, ahead of WOW's debut on AXS TV. Among many other things, McLane talked about the importance of WOW co-owner Jeanie Buss. McLane talked about why he sold GLOW. Additionally, McLane talked about WOW's relationship with AXS TV and how getting TV time was not going to be a problem for Buss & Co.
According to McLane, Buss is the reason women's wrestling will be elevated to new heights.  
"I've got to thank Jeanie Buss," McLane professed. "Jeanie Buss has a day job, which is called CEO and owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and she is the reason women's wrestling is going to be elevated to a new paradigm for all of us. And she really said, 'let's do this correctly, let's take all the steps.'"
–– ADVERTISEMENT ––

Interestingly, McLane divulged that he sold GLOW because the show got too comedic for him. McLane indicated that he wants WOW to be presented like a competitive sport and many of WOW's comedic skits did not work.
"I'm old school from that standpoint and I sold GLOW. To my liking, it became too much of a comedy show and I did not want that in WOW. That wasn't my goal. I really wanted to present it like an athletic contest. Now, with that said, we've got a few [comedic segments] and they didn't work. A few, what I would call, they're not skits, but I don't know what you would call them, but backstage interviews where they didn't work and it's better storytelling." McLane added, "some of the, I don't want to call them skits, but some of the things didn't work and that's why we're going to take them out and I reduce them as we get further along in the season."
According to McLane, securing TV time was never a big deal for WOW given Buss's connections and financial wherewithal. What was more important was finding a broadcast partner that shared WOW's vision of long term success.
"We could put women's wrestling on TV in five seconds," McLane explained. "Jeanie Buss can call up anybody. Heck, she could buy time on a network if she wanted. She wanted to get the right marketing partner, someone that shared our vision for making this thing a long term success and AXS TV is that partner because they have really been engaged on the ground floor to help us build the brand long term. So I think it's a special time, one, for women in all genres and especially now in wrestling. And we've got the right partners to do it, and make it successful, and now we just need the fans to tune in, and watch it, and comment on it and help us help it grow."

No comments: