This fall will mark a new era for WWE’s TV rights, and this week, additional information on where RAW and Smackdown will air has been revealed.
First, it was reported on Wednesday that TKO, WWE’s parent company, reached an agreement with USA Network to keep RAW on USA Network through the end of the year. The network has been the show’s home for the majority of its run since its 1993 debut. But starting in January 2025, RAW will be moving to Netflix. The previous deal with USA Network was set to expire in October, leading many to wonder where the show would air for those three months.
Then, on Thursday, TVLine reported that Smackdown would be heading to the USA Network starting September 13, a full month earlier than the previously reported time of October.
Smackdown originally moved from USA to FOX in 2019, returning to its network TV roots as the show spent its first decade on UPN and the CW.
While the deal seemed to work well for both sides, FOX has plenty of other options on Friday nights to fill the void left by Smackdown, while USA Network’s programming is WWE-centric mainly at this point in the network’s lifecycle.
WWE president Nick Khan released a brief statement on Thursday about the move, re-affirming that the company will have multiple primetime specials on NBC.
“NBCUniversal has been a tremendous partner of WWE for decades. We are excited to extend this longstanding relationship by bringing SmackDown to USA Network on Friday nights and look forward to debuting multiple WWE special events annually on NBC.”
[TVLine]
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