Two years ago, WWE announced a deal with broadcast network FOX to bring Friday Night SmackDown frok USA Network. This deal worth was over $1 billion over five years, and SmackDown made debut on FOX on October 4th, 2019. Now, as per the latest reports, WWE has held some high-level meetings with FOX over the past few months.
Fightful Select reported that FOX was disappointed by its viewership of SmackDown. It was also noted that the relationship between the two parties is not as strained, contrary to earlier reports in the year.
FOX network had higher expectations in regards to the viewership that Friday Night SmackDown was getting. However, WWE had some uncharted waters when it came to the pandemic, and FOX understood that.
However, 2020 was impossible to predict, and, FOX and WWE realized that SmackDown is the most-watched pro wrestling television show in the United States, and viewership does not tell the whole story.
The Fightful Select report also reported that FOX wasn’t “over the moon” at having to promote another company’s streaming service, Peacock, for WWE pay-per-views. But sources with both companies stated that there is no issue.
WWE and FOX executives have several high-level meetings in the past few months, including a four-hour meeting with Vince McMahon, Nick Khan, FOX Sports CEO Eric Shanks, and FOX head of production Brad Zager. The dinner took place in Las Vegas at the Wynn and was said to be a productive meeting.
WWE recently made several moves to improve the relationship with FOX, including having their return to Los Angeles (headquarters of FOX) be on SmackDown instead of Monday Night Raw as initially planned and that edition of SmackDown is set to take place on December 10th, 2021.
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