Reelz Channel Coming To Peacock, But Will Not Stream MLW Underground Due To WWE Deal

On Tuesday morning, The Hollywood Reporter broke the story that Reelz Channel, MLW's television home in the United States, will start having a live stream of the network and on-demand offerings of its most popular shows on NBC's Peacock streaming service on March 1. This adds to Peacock's existing linear offerings of Hallmark Channel, WWE Network, and local NBC stations, giving subscribers live access to the network's biggest hit, "On Patrol Live," the spiritual successor to A&E's "Live PD."

However, there is no good news in this for MLW, as their programming will be blacked out on the Peacock feed of Reelz.

"There is one quirk under the Reelz deal: While it will include the channel's live linear feed, it will not stream Tuesdays in the 10 p.m. hour, as Reelz airs Major League Wrestling in that hour," reads the report. "Peacock has a streaming deal with the WWE, which has exclusivity in the category on Peacock."

MLW sued WWE in January 2022, alleging antitrust violations in the form of claims that WWE interfered in the smaller promotion's deal with VICE TV and a nearly completed deal with streaming service Tubi. The case was dismissed on February 13, with the caveat that MLW was given three weeks to file an amended complaint that would fix the deficiencies that the judge found in their original claim. That deadline is up early next week.