TNA Impact moves to Wednesday nights starting Aug. 20, 2014

While the future of TNA on Spike TV remains uncertain, and a new television deal has yet to be revealed, the company announced earlier today that Impact will be moving from its usual Thursday night timeslot to Wednesday night at 9 p.m. ET starting Aug. 20, 2014.

From TNA:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Aug. 14, 2014) - TNA today announced its flagship program, IMPACT WRESTLING, will make a permanent move to Wednesday nights at 9/8c on SPIKE TV beginning next Wednesday, Aug. 20.

"Moving IMPACT WRESTLING to Wednesday nights gives existing fans and new viewers an opportunity to enjoy both wrestling and live sports even more throughout the week," said TNA President Dixie Carter.

IMPACT WRESTLING has enjoyed sustained ratings growth this summer, drawing over 1.5 million viewers each week this quarter, and is among the most watched cable series in key male demos in its timeslot.

This is an intriguing move for a number of reasons. For starters, why move the show if there is no renewal with Spike TV? Moving Impact away from Thursdays takes away impossible competition from the NFL, which starts its Thursday night schedule in early September, as well as avoids going head-to-head with SmackDown in the event it moves to Thursdays.

This decision is only fueling speculation that that's exactly what WWE and SyFy have decided to do.

Still, as it stands right now, the current TV deal runs out at the end of September and there has been no new announcement of a working relationship past that.

Stay tuned.