Television
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, AWA television production was headquartered at Minneapolis independent station WTCN-TV, then owned by Metromedia. The ring announcer was longtime St. Paul-Minneapolis sports broadcaster Marty O'Neill, who also conducted the post-match interviews. O'Neill announced the matches for the local WTCN audience. But fans watching the syndicated version of the show heard commentary provided by Rodger Kent. In the mid-1970s, during a prolonged illness, O'Neill was occasionally replaced as ring announcer by program producer Al DeRusha and interviews were conducted by both Kent and Gene Okerlund. By 1979, Okerlund had permanently replaced O'Neill, who died a couple of years later, and production was transferred to Minneapolis station KMSP-TV. During the AWA's existence, it produced or had a hand in production of several TV programs:
- AWA All-Star Wrestling, the promotion's syndicated program, which aired from 1960 until 1991.
- AWA Championship Wrestling, which aired on cable sports network ESPN from 1985 to 1990 and ScreenSport in Europe via Cable or Satellite TV; it was a continuation of the earlier ESPN program Pro Wrestling USA, the co-operative venture between the AWA and several NWA affiliates (most notably Jim Crockett Promotions).
- AWA Major League Wrestling, a Canadian program produced in Winnipeg, Manitoba for that city's station, CKND, and syndicated across Canada during the 1980s.
In 1985, Gagne began airing weekly programming on ESPN, hoping to help the promotion compete with the national exposure already enjoyed by the WWF (on USA Network) and the NWA's Georgia/World Championship Wrestling (on TBS). However, weekly AWA shows were not treated with any priority by the cable network, sometimes being delayed, preempted by live programming, or suffering from occasional changes in time slot, making it difficult for fans to tune in on a regular basis.
On February 26, 2008, ESPN Classic began reairing AWA Championship Wrestling episodes, circa 1986-1990.
Read more about this topic: American Wrestling Association
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