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Ted never could quite hold his tongue, once casually suggesting to Atlanta Braves pitcher Andy Messersmith that he change his last name to “Channel” (Messersmith wore no. 17, the same number as WTCG).
“He said, ‘I heard I was a real asshole last night’. I said, ‘yeah, you were - I was just on my way to see you’. He said, ‘I saved you the walk. So there’s one of two things we can do here. “’One - accept my apology and shake my hand. Or two-’ “And [at this point],” Page continues, “he pulled his front three [fake] teeth out of his mouth. He said, ‘or punch me in the face. You do whatever you feel is right’. “That’s who Eric Bischoff is.
George antagonized fans so much that he is credited for generating more sales of television sets than any other factor of the time, thus making pro wrestling the first real TV ‘hit’.
The Chairman’s decision-making process was often rather comedic (and admirable) in its simplicity. In 1992, he ordered the creation of the first 24-hour single-genre channel with animation as its main theme. While his marketing gurus deliberated the various options for its name, Ted made things easy for them. The network of cartoons became, well, Cartoon Network.
TNT had to create pro wrestling’s version of the NFL’s Monday Night Football.
Ironically, the network already carried the NFL’s Sunday night games, originally marketed using the tag line Sunday Nitro. Seeing a clear opportunity to leverage an already established theme, TNT’s VP of Public Relations, Jim Weiss, suggested that WCW adopt a similar show title: WCW Monday Nitro Live!
WCW would perhaps never be perceived as better than the WWF, it certainly could be perceived as different.
being seen as being the best at something unique to itself.
If our competitor wants to appeal to children, he reasoned, we can be wrestling for eighteen-to-thirty-nine-year-old males. If our competitor wants to present cartoonish, animated characters, we can present them with a keen sense of realism. If our competitor wants to continue its taped format for Monday Night Raw, we can take advantage of our status as live programming.
Strategically, TNT selected a start date for Nitro to air unopposed; in other words, without competition, as in a fortuitous occurrence, Raw was set to be pre-empted by the U.S. Open, leaving the entire wrestling audience up for grabs (for one week, at least).
WCW’s debut on TNT will be live from the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota. [It] will be called the ‘Brawl at the Mall’.”
After both airings of WCW on TNT, we will present a very heavy duty action movie to make Monday Nitro a very action-driven night [of television].
Amazing
Conversely, EBITDA’s critics - Warren Buffett famously among them - pointed out its ability to obscure reality. “People who use EBITDA,” Buffett reportedly observed at a shareholder meeting, “are either trying to con you, or they’re conning themselves. Interest and taxes are real costs.”
‘what the hell is this EBITDA stuff?’ At some point down the road, there’s a reckoning. If you have more expenses than you have income - whether it’s cash or not - you’re gonna hit a wall.”
You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want.
