A five-year deal between WWE and NBCUniversal will see Friday Night SmackDown air on USA Network starting in October 2024. This was revealed by WWE on Thursday. The deal is over $1 billion.
According to USA Today, The new arrangement, which has a five-year term, requires WWE to produce four primetime specials annually to air on NBC, marking the first time the company has done so.
The weekly programme “Smackdown” has aired on Fox since October 2019, but it was previously broadcast on USA Network from 2016 to 2019. WWE President Nick Khan said, “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”.
Frances Berwick, Chairman, of NBCUniversal Entertainment said, “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,”
“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.”
WWE NXT and WWE Monday Night Raw are currently broadcast on USA Network. From 2016 to 2019, WWE Friday Night Smackdown aired on USA; after switching to Fox, it is now returning to its original network.
