Female wrestling promotion, Wrestlicious has announced that it has struck a TV deal for a programme named ‘TakeDown’ to begin airing on March 1st. The show will air on Monday and Friday nights at 11pm.
TakeDown will air on Mav TV in the United States and Bite TV in Canada and stream online via the latter’s official website, bite.ca.
Read the official press release:
LOS ANGELES, January 19, 2010–Jimmy Hart announced tonight that Wrestlicious TakeDown will premiere in North America on Monday, March 1, 2010 on Dish Network Channel 361 in the U.S. via MavTV (www.mavtv.com) and on Bite TV (www.bite.ca) in Canada. Mr. Hart made the announcement during a live appearance on Bite TV’s late night program “The Surf” hosted by Jason Agnew. Autumn Frost, Mr. Harts’ co-star on TakeDown, also appeared on the program.
Key personnel for Wrestlicious LLC include founder Jay Vargas, the youngest Powerball winner in history, former G.L.O.W. (Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling) executives Steve Blance and Johnny Cafarella, and Hart, a legendary WWE manager and Hall Of Fame member.
Bite TV and MavTV have signed one-year deals to broadcast TakeDown on Mondays and Fridays in prime time. In addition to carriage on Dish Network, the fastest growing TV provider in America, MavTV is also available on local cable in 75 U.S. markets via Time Warner, Comcast, Verizon’s FiOS and several other cable distributors. MavTV is in about 33 million homes.
“MavTV has long been the home for our male audience to enjoy innovative wrestling events and some of the most beautiful women on TV” said Rob Stevens, SVP of Programming for Mav TV. “We believe our viewers are going to love Wrestlicious TakeDown for both the great quality of the wrestling and for the stunning women featured. For a network like MavTV, Wrestlicious TakeDown is a perfect fit.”
TakeDown will also debut in syndication on 15 broadcast stations in February 2010 including Top 10 DMA’s Dallas and Atlanta. Additional markets are being cleared, and a full list will be posted on the Wrestlicious website the week of Feb 1, following the 2010 NATPE convention in Las Vegas. Internationally, the series has been cleared in Bermuda, The Bahamas, The Caymans, Trinidad and Jamaica via Caribbean Cable Cooperative Ltd. Several other foreign distribution deals are pending. Aired episodes of TakeDown will be available over the internet at www.bite.ca
Closed set production of TakeDown continues during January and February in Florida. Live TV tapings, open to the public, will be announced soon. Many outstanding female wrestlers will be featured on TakeDown, including 17 (33%) of the PWI (Pro Wrestling Illustrated) “Female 50”.
“We are thrilled about the premiere of our first TV series” enthused Wrestlicious founder Jay Vargas “Everyone has worked extremely hard to make this dream a reality. TakeDown will be the first of several Wrestlicious programs available to fans worldwide as we build our brand globally.”
“As a life-long wrestling fan and long time host of The LAW: Live Audio Wrestling, I’m extremely excited to bring Wrestlicious TakeDown to Canada on BITE Television” stated Jason Agnew, Executive Producer of BITE TV. “I’ve always attempted to keep Canadian wrestling fans entertained with elements of pro-wrestling on the channel, but the combination of comedy and wrestling that Wrestlicious TakeDown offers is something I’m very much excited about adding to the channel’s broadcast line-up! What better way to sum up BITE’s’ airing of Wrestlicious than with the words on the late great Billy Red Lyons; “Don’tcha Dare Miss It!”
