WWE SmackDown to be hit hard following major upcoming change - Reports

WWE has been doing some really great business for a long time. With almost every show and premium live event going sold out, the Stamford-based promotion is successfully entertaining its fans. However, two of its brands will soon undergo a major change that will reportedly hit them very hard.

SmackDown and NXT will soon be changing their respective broadcast networks. Notably, while the blue brand will vacate FOX for the USA Network, the developmental brand will be leaving the USA Network for the CW Network. According to a report from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the move will bear a high cost for both shows.

He noted that SmackDown moving down from a network to cable would bring an artificial drop in its regular viewership of over two million. The veteran journalist mentioned that the number will drop because of the limited availability of the content instead of fans opting out due to a lack of interest. He opined that the true picture of this change for the blue brand will be visible around October 2024.

Speaking about NXT, Meltzer held that the show will be moving from cable to network. However, the CW Network just has a slightly higher number of domestic viewers (71.25 million as compared to 68 million). Additionally, it is a less popular platform than the USA Network, and thus, the move is more or less a shot in the dark.

Notably, SmackDown will move to the USA Network on September 13, 2024, and NXT will move to the CW Network on September 24, 2024.

Fans would be excited to witness this transition of broadcast networks for both brands.

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How will WWE RAW’s move to Netflix impact its ratings?

Dave Meltzer noted that after WWE RAW moves to Netflix, its ratings will no longer be decided by the Nielsen system of ratings. Rather, it will be receiving a global rating like all the other shows on the streaming platform, which would be a big shift from what fans have been used to for 31 years.

Additionally, he also remarked that it would be hard to track how many viewers the show will have. The veteran journalist stated that WWE would be able to claim a number as high as the total viewership of Netflix following the move to the streaming giant.

While it would be difficult to track the actual numbers for RAW, TKO Group Holdings President Mark Shapiro recently revealed that the company faced several problems while finalizing the Netflix deal. He noted that the streaming giant was not keen on getting live sports on its platform. However, it accepted the deal by seeing the lucrative opportunity it would stand to gain from the deal.

Shapiro said that Netflix is planning to bring the WWE Universe to its platform and then look forward to increasing the costs of its subscription plans. He also noted that Netflix is not looking forward to bringing more live sports programs on its platform.

Thus, while Meltzer holds that the Stamford-based promotion can show misleading charts, the streaming platform sees WWE as a profitable investment. It would be interesting to see how things will pan out for RAW in 2025.