Smackdown Leaving The CW Network
After a successful decade of "SmackDown" on both UPN and The CW, World Wrestling Entertainment and The CW have agreed to conclude our partnership. The CW's exclusive negotiation period ran out as of last Thursday, January 31 and WWE has been contacted and have been in negotiations with other networks. "WWE SmackDown" will continue to air on The CW until the conclusion of the 2007-08 broadcast season.
Following the announcement, the obvious question is what is next for WWE's second highest rated show? According to Variety, the most logical choice for WWE would be to get a slot on the USA Network as they already have a relationship with NBC Universal with RAW airing on USA and ECW on the Sci-Fi Channel.
However, Variety also hinted that News Corp.'s MyNetwork TV could be in the running for the series. Obviously Friday Night SmackDown would be the highest rated show on MyNetwork TV but it would have to be considered a huge set backwards for WWE.
If WWE is able to get SmackDown under their current deal with NBC Universal, the USA Network, Bravo, and the Sci-Fi Channel would be the top networks in the running. NBC and MSNBC would be the other options but would be long-shots for obvious reasons. If SmackDown doesn't fall under WWE's current deal with NBC Universal or NBC Universal lets WWE shop the show with other networks, there could be several other possibilities.
The Associated Press picked up on the story (link) and noted that the show gave UPN a foothold on that night of bruising prime-time competition, but even as a ratings contender, it proved to be a sometimes uncomfortable fit with UPN's image. (Thanks to James Quan and Robert Ha)
The last episode of Smackdown on the CW Network will be on September 12, 2008, which is the end of the fall network TV season. Dave Meltzer noted that contractually they can go anywhere on network or pay-TV however on cable, they can only go to stations under the NBC Universal umbrella, like USA and Sci-Fi. They can always merge ECW and Smackdown, and air Smackdown live on Tuesday nights on the Sci-Fi network. We will have more on this story in the coming days.