AEW Dynamite will air live on TNT in the pacific and mountain time zones starting this week, Tony Khan announced.
Great news for you great wrestling fans who support @AEW: we’re back on Wednesdays for #AEWDynamite starting this week in just over 48 hours, from now on we’re officially LIVE everywhere in America! Dynamite every Wednesday @ 8pm ET, 7pm CT, 6pm MT, 5pm PT! See you all Wednesday!
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) October 25, 2021
Dynamite previously aired on a three hour tape delay there, at 8 PM PT / 9 PM MT.
The reason for the move is that TNT will often be airing NHL games on Wednesday nights at 10 PM ET / 7 PM PT. As of last week, TNT’s plan was to air Dynamite after the NHL game in the western US, meaning it was scheduled to air at around 10 PM PT / 11 PM MT.
That move would have likely hurt Dynamite’s ratings, with it airing in a late time slot in much of the country. Airing live in the west could also hurt Dynamite’s ratings, since 5 PM PT is a much worse time slot than prime time at 8 PM.