-

A new era for Smackdown starts tonight with move back to USA Network

A new era for Smackdown kicks off tonight on USA Network as the show returns to its former home after airing for five years on FOX.

The new five-year deal with NBCUniversal is valued at $1.4 billion, a 37% increase over what FOX originally paid in 2019. The $1.4 billion figure comes to around $280 million per year. Smackdown enjoyed audiences larger than Raw thanks to the benefit of network television. This year, Smackdown averaged 2,278,000 viewers and a 0.64 rating in 18-49, numbers that will not be replicated on cable television on a Friday night.

This deal also calls for WWE to produce four primetime specials per year that will air on NBC, marking the first time WWE will air on the network in primetime in decades. The specials will reportedly carry the name of Saturday Night’s Main Event, a show that used to air on NBC.

Smackdown aired on USA Network between 2016 and 2019 after five years on SyFy.

For the next two weeks, USA Network will, for the first time ever, be the home of Raw, Smackdown, and NXT. NXT moves to the CW on October 1 while Raw moves to Netflix on January 6.


Discover more from Wrestling-Online.com

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Colin Vassallo
Colin Vassallohttps://www.wrestling-online.com
Colin Vassallo has been editor of Wrestling-Online since 1996. He is born and raised in Malta, follows professional wrestling and MMA, loves to travel, and is a big Apple fan!

Stories you might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you

LATEST NEWS

NXT rating for 11/19/2024

NXT this week drew 672,000 viewers, up 41,000 viewers from the prior week. The show had a 0.19 rating...

Jon Moxley says AEW has to be a success or business goes back 20 years

Speaking to TVInsider.com ahead of this weekend's Full Gear pay-per-view, AEW World champion Jon Moxley said that it is...

The Rizzler to join Costo Guys at Full Gear

The Costco Guys will be coming in full force at Full Gear as it was revealed last night that...

Discover more from Wrestling-Online.com

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading