Steve Carrier on September 14, 2018
SmackDown Live is scheduled to begin airing on Fox in 2019, and the deal itself is unforeseen in the wrestling business. Many fans and personalities have given their two cents on the deal, but a senior executive with Fox has now given an insight into what 21st Century Fox think about the deal.
John Nallen serves as a senior executive VP and CFO for Fox. As The Wrap initially reported, Nallen spoke at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference on Thursday to explain exactly what Fox is thinking with the WWE deal and how it benefits them.
“It’s a 50 to 52-week-a-year sport with no repeats. It’s a new novella every week. For us to have that kind of appointment programming, that audience, every week of the year, is a really unique opportunity for us.”
Furthermore, Nallen comments on one of the biggest benefits of having SmackDown Live on their platforms on Friday nights. This is obviously a distinct change from the current format- which has SmackDown Live on Tuesdays, a day following Monday Night RAW.
“To lock up a Friday night and just not have to focus on programming it from an entertainment standpoint.”
It will be interesting to see moving forward how Fox does handle WWE on a weekly basis. There have been a number of significant rumors in regards to NXT being broadcast on the platform. Stay tuned to Ringside News for any further developments in that regard.
Are you excited for the Network change? What do you feel will be different? Let us know in the comments down below.
September 14, 2018 1:14 pm
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