AEW CEO Tony Khan explains how he's balancing streaming, cable TV, and social media to lure new wrestling fans

Business Insider

05-07-2025

The pay-TV bundle is dying a long, slow death, and streaming is the prime suspect.
Media analysts sometimes blame content providers for cannibalizing the cable bundle and accelerating its collapse by building streaming services that give consumers direct access to once-exclusive content.
But for All Elite Wrestling, this hasn't been the case.
AEW started simulcasting on HBO Max in January, just as rival WWE's "Raw" event on Monday nights moved exclusively to Netflix.
The move has corresponded with a rebound in AEW's cable ratings in that span from their lows late last year.
Through the second quarter, AEW's audience on traditional TV has grown 25% for "Collision" on TNT on Saturdays and 6.5% for "Dynamite" on TBS on Wednesdays, compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, according to Nielsen data. And those figures don't include viewership on HBO Max, which isn't public.
Notably, AEW's cable viewership rose even more this year in the 25- to 54-year-old cohort that advertisers love, even as a streaming alternative emerged. All of this growth came as pay TV continued to wither, which affected sports leagues like the NHL and NBA.
That has AEW founder and CEO Tony Khan especially fired up.
"We've been picking up traction in these key demos," Khan told Business Insider. Still, he said that among 18- to 24-year-olds, "a lot of the growth is on streaming."
While ratings are trending higher, AEW is still clawing its way back out of a slump. Viewership for "Collision" and "Dynamite" was down 9% and 12%, respectively, year over year.
AEW has been locked in a battle with the category's behemoth, WWE, which previously poached two of its biggest stars: Cody Rhodes and CM Punk.
Khan, a lifelong wrestling fan, spoke with BI about how streaming has jump-started AEW's growth and why he's not sweating the uncertainty surrounding the spinoff at Warner Bros. Discovery — his most valuable business partner.
AEW everywhere, all at once
In this cutthroat, crowded media landscape, Khan's game plan is for AEW to be everywhere — from in-person events, to traditional TV, to streaming, to social media, to YouTube.
But from a monetization standpoint, not all platforms are equally valuable. AEW's most lucrative businesses are in-person events and pay-per-view events, where it's paid directly, though Khan said its backbone is its $185 million media deal with WBD across TBS, TNT, and HBO Max.
"The lifeblood of AEW, really, is the partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery," Khan said.
Social media and YouTube serve a different role: generating buzz and bringing in new viewers. AEW has to be where its fans are, though there's a risk that showing highlights for free will train audiences to follow the action in short form, instead of watching full matches on TV or in person.
However, Khan thinks highlights on TikTok and YouTube drive higher demand for TV and events instead of eroding it — similar to how streaming matches coincided with a cable ratings bump.
"People want to watch the full event in its entirety, but also consume highlights on digital," Khan said. "I think we found a great balance in that, and also offering access to a lot of the great classic matches in the AEW library to the fans has helped us drive a lot of viewership, as well."
AEW must thread the needle between maximizing reach and ensuring that live matches and pay-per-view events "feel special," as Khan put it. That means giving enough to lure casual fans and newcomers to TBS, TNT, and HBO Max, without giving so much that they don't watch live.
AEW streams pre- and post-shows live on YouTube for big matches. But some of AEW's rivals are going a step further by experimenting with livestreaming marquee events on YouTube, for free. WWE streamed its "Worlds Collide" event live on the platform in early June, and the NFL is hosting a regular-season game live on YouTube in September.
As of now, Khan isn't following suit. The AEW CEO said he's firmly committed to TBS, TNT, and HBO Max, no matter what's happening at their parent company.
Not splitting hairs
WBD announced a long-awaited spinoff last month that will pull HBO Max away from TBS and TNT. Khan said the split shouldn't affect AEW, which reached a media deal with WBD last fall.
"We have a great partnership with both sides," Khan said, adding that AEW is "very well entrenched" across the forthcoming Streaming & Studios and Global Networks companies.
WBD's media rights deal with AEW is unaffected by the split, so HBO Max will continue to stream matches that air live on TBS and TNT.
Regardless, a top media analyst thinks sports leagues like AEW should brainstorm alternatives for their next deals in light of the spinoff.
"Without a broadcast network or a streaming platform (we are not counting Discovery+), it is hard to imagine sports leagues being excited to work with GLN [Global Linear Networks] going forward, unless they have no choice," Lightshed's Rich Greenfield wrote in a mid-June note.
AEW has seen firsthand how HBO Max can effectively complement TBS and TNT. Once they belong to separate companies, that symbiosis could disappear. And while AEW could theoretically re-up with TNT Sports and find a separate streaming deal, Greenfield questioned that logic.
"GLN could license its sports streaming rights to third-parties (assuming contracts allow it)" Greenfield wrote. "But then why would a sports rights holder not just choose a vertically-integrated platform to begin with?"
Other analysts are less bearish, including Robert Fishman of MoffettNathanson. He wrote last month that "sports remains a key pillar to support affiliate fee stability in the years ahead" for the Global Networks business that will house TBS and TNT.
Instead of wondering what the future holds for WBD's assets, Khan is focused on the present. The 100th episode of "Collision" airs Saturday night, and viewers can tune in on TNT — or Max.