Dixie Carter talks TNA in 2015!

TNA released Wednesday a podcast interview with TNA president Dixie Carter discussing the company's business plans moving forward. Jeremy Borash hosted the podcast.

-- KURT ANGLE: Carter sold not being aware that Angle announced that he has re-signed with TNA. "Well, I guess I'll consider that a signed deal then," Carter said. "It's done, yeah, Kurt's back... really? Okay. Good. I love that."

Carter said she wants Angle to retire in TNA, then be able to use him behind-the-scenes to help the company grow. As for 2015, Carter said she hopes Angle can "do some new and exciting things" and represent TNA "on different levels that he's done a little bit in the past."

-- 2014: Carter called it a year she's "really proud of." "We did a lot of things right," Carter claimed. She picked out the move to the six-sides ring after a fan vote (which did not make a difference in ratings). Carter continued, "It was a transitional year. The last half-of-the-year, I was in negotiating mode with a lot of different networks taking a lot of different meetings. That's always a little bit different year for me personally, but from what people saw, I'm proud. It was a good year."

-- SPIKE TV: Carter said she approached Spike TV president Kevin Kay at the beginning of the year to discuss "having something different" and not having "status quo going into a new deal." Carter said she wanted more than just "the two-hour Impact." Carter added, "We've got to grow our brand and do some things differently and really shake it up. That's the main reason."

Carter said that was the tone of her conversation with other networks. "I'm not interested in having somebody pick up our two-hour show; I'm interested in someone being a partner on a much bigger level. This company needed that; I think we deserved it."

As for Spike going forward, Carter said she hopes to stay connected through wrestlers continuing to fight for Bellator MMA on Spike.

-- DESTINATION AMERICA: Carter acknowledged that moving from Spike to a smaller channel seems crazy, but she claimed to have big plans in the work with Discovery Communications that go beyond one show on Dest. America.

"Obviously, it's a smaller channel. And if it was just looked at from an apples-to-apples standpoint on that channel vs. Spike, you would look at me like I'm crazy for losing that many households. And, that is our challenge on the network," Carter said.

"But, they are part of Discovery Communications and from the top-down, number one, they are committed, and one of their top priorities is growing Destination America... We are such a priority., that network is such a priority, and we are such a priority within that network. The support that they are promising across all of their networks..."

Carter said the focus is not just a U.S. TV deal, but growing TNA's reach globally through an international push. She also hyped new initiatives in India and U.K. to reach two of their bigger markets, including a different approach to shooting television in the U.K. in January.

Carter added that there will be new programming and "exciting changes" related to how Discovery "programs Impact." She said, "It's so much bigger than just an Impact deal on one network. And that's what I'm excited for everybody to start hearing just how big this, and let it unfold. Look, if we have success, there is no bigger deal than we could have done."

-- 2015: Carter said she feels the support of talent and management going forward. "How different it's going to be," Carter said of a new work environment with Discovery. "A lot of announcements are coming. I really mean it."

Carter said she cannot announce anything yet about changes to the TV product, the way it's shot, or the talent roster, but she advertised that changes are "real substantive" with some "real meat" to the changes TNA wants to make.

Carter also credited executive John Gaburick for finding new talent that will be spotlighted in 2015. She noted that Spike was supportive of TNA "taking a step back to take a step forward in the future" with the roster.

- NYC TV TAPINGS: As for the first set of Impact tapings for Destination America in January, Carter hyped "big things planned" and "surprises." She said that some things will be announced in the next few days.

Caldwell's Analysis: From Spike TV's perspective, it did not make sense for them to give TNA more programming when TNA's ratings were declining on the programming they already had. Impact went from a 1.17 ratings average in 2011 to 1.07 rating in 2012 to 1.05 rating in 2013 leading into this year when negotiations would have begun. On Thursdays this year, Impact fell to a 1.00 rating. On Wednesdays, Impact fell to a 0.81 rating. Perhaps things will be different with a new partner who has unspecified plans for TNA programming, but Impact was losing steam on Spike over a period of years.

[ LINK: Audio HERE ]