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WWE and NBC Universal announced this morning that WWE Smackdown will be leaving Fox broadcast network and returning to USA Network on basic cable starting in October 2024.
Smackdown moved to Fox in the fall of 2019, a move that came with high expectations of a boom in viewership since it would be heavily promoted during NFL games on Fox and it would be available to everyone with a basic broadcast antenna and not require a cable subscription. Nothing in press release notes whether the show will remain two hours or expand to three to match Raw’s length.
The first episode of Smackdown on Fox on Fridays drew 3.880 million viewers on Oct. 4, 2019, up from the 2.099 million on USA Network the previous week in its previous timeslot of Tuesday. It dropped to 2.877 million the next week and 2.418 million the following week. After the first two episodes, it averaged 2.433 million viewers the following ten weeks it aired on Fox. The final ten weeks on USA Network drew an average of 2.091 million viewers.
Also, WWE will produce four prime time specials per year that will air on the NBC broadcast network, keeping WWE programming available to non-basic cable susbcribers, but on a much less frequent basis than currently with the weekly Smackdown series on Fox. It will be the first time WWE airs on NBC in prime time.
“NBCUniversal has been a tremendous partner of WWE for decades,” said WWE President Nick Khan. “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.”
The press release listed Smackdown’s top wrestlers in this order: John Cena, Roman Reigns, Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair, and Rey Mysterio.
The press release notes that Peacock streams WWE content and that Raw and NXT will continue to air on USA Network through September 2024. No extensions of those deals was part of the announcement.
The following is the full press release issued to PWTorch.com today.
SMACKDOWN RETURNS TO USA NETWORK AS PART OF
FIVE-YEAR AGREEMENT BETWEEN WWE AND NBCUNIVERSAL
WWE to Make NBC Primetime Debut with Launch of Four Network Specials
STAMFORD, Conn., Sep. 21, 2023 – WWE, part of TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: TKO), and NBCUniversal have agreed to a five-year domestic media rights partnership that will bring Friday Night Smackdown back to USA Network beginning October 2024. Additionally, beginning in the 2024/25 season, WWE will produce four primetime specials per year that will air on NBC, marking the first time WWE will air on the network in primetime.
Smackdown will come exclusively to NBCU as one of television’s longest-running programs, regularly rating as the No. 1 show in the 18-49 advertising demographic on Friday nights and featuring many WWE Superstars including John Cena, Roman Reigns, Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair, and Rey Mysterio.
“NBCUniversal has been a tremendous partner of WWE for decades,” said WWE President Nick Khan. “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.”
“It’s a privilege and thrill to continue NBCU’s decades-long partnership with WWE which has helped cement USA Network’s consistent position as the top-rated cable entertainment network in live viewership” said Frances Berwick, Chairman, NBCUniversal Entertainment. “With Friday nights on USA, primetime specials on NBC, and the WWE hub on Peacock, we’ll continue to use the power of our portfolio to super-serve this passionate fanbase.”
As part of WWE and NBCUniversal’s longstanding relationship, USA Network is currently home to WWE NXT and WWE Monday Night Raw, which is the #2 cable entertainment program in 2023 in the 18-49 demo. Demonstrating the deeply engaged WWE audience on USA, WWE NXT (+27%) and WWE Monday Night Raw (+15%) are up double-digits year-over-year in the target demographic. WWE Monday Night Raw and WWE NXT will continue to air on USA Network through September 2024.
In addition, since 2021, Peacock has been the exclusive home of WWE Network in the U.S. where Peacock subscribers can stream thousands of hours of on-demand programming from WWE including original series, groundbreaking documentaries, fan-favorite shows from the WWE archives, and premium live events like WrestleMania, Survivor Series, Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and more. WWE continues to drive high engagement on the platform, with this April’s WrestleMania 39 livestream delivering a record-breaking weekend for Peacock as its highest weekend usage to-date.
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Hopefully this time NBC actually does a good job with the deal. The last time WWE announced a deal with NBC to air specials, they did like 2 episodes of Saturday Night’s Main Event and then after that it would mostly crap like end of year “Best of” specials.
It’s disappointing to see SmackDown going backwards by going back to cable