In 2020 WWE signed a multi year deal with TNT Sports (BT Sport at the time) to air WWE programming WWE Raw, WWE Smackdown and WWE NXT.
Channel 5 also airs highlights of WWE RAW and WWE Smackdown but on a week delay - Channel 5 is a free to air channel here in the UK.
Last week I received an email as a WWE Network subscriber here in the UK to inform me that I could now watch WWE NXT every week on WWE Network from 3rd Jan 2024.
So this email got me thinking - is the WWE/TNT Sports UK TV deal coming up soon? it looks possible. Looking at the original story of the deal being made in 2020 multiple sources claim that it is a "multi year deal" See below
(https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a28113145/wwe-smackdown-raw-watch-uk-tv-bt-sport/)
I could not find how many specific years that was., However I thought i'd give my opinion on where WWE Raw and WWE Smackdown could end up in 2024, The rights fee's obviously are alot less than there are in USA due to WWE Raw and SmackDown airing at 1am live in UK.
TNT Sports
Could they stay on TNT Sports? Yes - if the deal is right for both sides and both are happy with ratings and money then there is no reason why not, however looking at NXT being removed maybe TNT are looking at a modified deal from the original, Maybe they only air WWE RAW and WWE Smackdown goes to a different channel? That could happen but it would weaken TNT Sports and help another channel plus the audience in the UK have never had to watch WWE mainstream programming on 2 channels - would it work? I'm not so sure.
Sky TV
SKY TV - Sky is a pay tv platform here in the UK and has been No 1 pay TV network for over 30 years. Sky was the original home for WWE and where its had it's most success. Sky didn't renew WWE in 2020 assumingly thinking it wasn't worth the investment - as WWE network was taking away traditional PPV buys that Sky would pick up at £15-£30 per event from a customer, Sky felt WWE were taking away their business.Now PPV model is dead and Sky as well as WWE are in a very different position Sky have a number of competitors in their market and streaming market is super competitive and also WWE are under new ownership and new management at the helm - could there be a deal - its always possible.
Amazon Prime TV
Suggesting this a few years ago alot of people would of laughed at it but Amazon Prime could get WWE RAW and WWE Smackdown on a streaming deal - it would make alot of sense for Amazon and help drive people to purchase Amazon Prime but also - it could add WWE Network to Amazon like WWE is on Peacock in USA and have a whole 360 degree complete package,if Amazon Prime wanted to go all in on WWE. Amazon have been pursuing more Premier League Live Games and want to obtain Champions League Games and rumors that they would like F1 Races in the future, WWE could be a huge addition their and help propel them to be the number one streaming service in the Uk too.
So if i was WWE where would I like WWE programming to go?
Well I'd actually go for a 4th option........
WWE Network
Hear me out it makes the most sense. Endeavour Streaming run WWE Network now (Endeavour Own WWE also) they have control of WWE Network which means they can do what they want with it. If I was was Endeavour i'd cut out the middle men put WWE RAW and WWE Smackdown on WWE Network to help build your own subscribers. When WWE Raw or WWE Smackdown is on a break and it's live Endeavour can sell their own advertising on WWE network and have Advertisers pay them directly to make more money too. That means WWE don't have to rely on any networks in the Uk at all and can do things their own way and could even include a higher tier of £15.99 a month which Included WWE RAW and WWE Smackdown which could help drive revenue also.
My pIck is option 4 - what about you?
Thanks for reading
@jon422002
Jonathan Orchard
Comments