New Details On FOX/WWE Deal, Including Time Slot And Possible Extra Shows

The details begin. One of the biggest stories of 2018 was the announcement that SmackDown Live would be moving to the FOX Network in late 2019. This was a major move for the show and the company, as it would suddenly be on the biggest network it had ever seen. As usual, the details are what matter the most, and we now have some more details from the FOX bosses.

FOX CEO spoke at the Television Critics Association on Wednesday and mentioned a few new details on the WWE move. According to a series of tweets from GameSpot entertainment editor Chris Hayner, who is at the meeting, SmackDown is currently scheduled to stay on Friday nights for the short term though a move in the future isn’t out of the question. There is also the possibility of other yet to be determined WWE shows being added to FOX sports networks.

Charlie Collier just called #SDLive a "shared, live viewing experience." So it sounds like it'll still be live on FOX. #TCA19

— Chris E. Hayner (@ChrisHayner) February 6, 2019

This is going to be a pretty big change, I think. WWE has turned their bigger shows into a "week" of events with TakeOver, PPV, Raw, and SDLive. Not really possible anymore. Plus what happens Mania weekends, when TakeOver or HoF would normally run Fridays?

— Chris E. Hayner (@ChrisHayner) February 6, 2019

"Short term, Friday night is going to WWE," Collier says when asked about Last Man Standing. That show could go elsewhere. But WWE being "short term" Fridays tells me they may move it around. #TCA19

— Chris E. Hayner (@ChrisHayner) February 6, 2019

#SDLive will remain live on Fox in the fall and there will likely be *other* WWE programming on Fox sports networks. #TCA19

— Chris E. Hayner (@ChrisHayner) February 6, 2019

This is the kind of thing that could make a list like this. Check out this look back at the first 999 episodes of SmackDown Live:

Relive 1000 episodes of SmackDown history: SmackDown 1000, Oct. 16, 2018

Opinion: I’m getting curious about how all of this is going to go. Just getting to FOX in the first place is a good thing, but how much damage would be done if things are shifted around over and over? WWE is going to benefit a lot from the exposure, though the idea of moving the show to some kind of a death slot isn’t going to help things and that may be the reality if the dismal viewership doesn’t improve.

What do you think of the move to FOX? What other WWE show would you like to see on the FOX networks? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28 wrestling books. His latest book is the the Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews.

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