WWE News: Smackdown Live Might not Remain Live in Selected Regions
Jul 2, 2018 at 1:37 PM
Smackdown used to be a taped show for the most part of the broadcasting. The same format was intact until the brand extension draft happened in 2016.
The entire programming for the blue brand changed since then. WWE moved the show to Tuesday Nights on a live format. The time-slot remained the same, as the flagship show of the company Monday Night Raw.
This shift was perhaps the biggest move in the history of Smackdown. It actually became a huge competition for the cornerstone show on Monday Nights. The healthy competition between the two brands benefitted us a lot from that point. The show under Shane McMahon did not leave any room to become the A-show of the company.
WWE used to broadcast WWE Raw on live format all over the United States of America. It also started doing the same for the other countries too. The treatments with the Smackdown brand also remained the same following the brand split. It was a major alteration in the overall programming.
Another major change is waiting for them in the upcoming year. We reported it earlier that FOX Sports will broadcast Smackdown Live shortly. The deal between WWE and NBC Universal is intact till October 2019. Fox will own the broadcast the rights for the blue brand after that. The TV schedule alongside the superstar schedule will undergo a massive change.
Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com gave us updates that Smackdown will not remain, live for some part of the United States. The west coast of America will not be able to see it in a live format starting from October 2019. The reason is as follows, (courtesy SportsKeeda.com),
“It’s being insinuated that the primary reason behind the same, is that SmackDown Live will be broadcasted on Friday nights on the FOX network, and should the show be aired live, it’ll commence around 5 o’clock on the west coast.”
Smackdown will actually move to Friday Nights. It is a weekday slot for the show where people returns home late from work. So the decision of airing the show around 5 o’clock can have an adverse effect. So WWE and FOX Sports can agree to air the show at a later point in the evening.