WWE officially announced that FOX will broadcast Smackdown Live starting on October 4, 2019, as the show jumps back to network television.
WWE and FOX signed a five-year agreement which will see the show move to Friday nights rather than Tuesday.
“At FOX we are thrilled to welcome WWE to the FOX Sports family and bring SmackDown LIVE to broadcast television,” said Eric Shanks, President, COO and Executive Producer FOX Sports. “We are huge fans and know that together FOX Sports will be the leader in live events for the foreseeable future.”
Smackdown is the second-longest running weekly episodic cable television show in U.S. primetime history, only behind Monday Night Raw and the next milestone is the 1,000th episode. Smackdown currently has 984 episodes.
“WWE and FOX are a perfect match,” said Vince McMahon, WWE Chairman & CEO. “Moving SmackDown LIVE to broadcast TV and having the ability to leverage FOX’s extensive portfolio of world-class sporting events will expand the reach of our flagship programming.”
Once on FOX, WWE is expected to have a weekly studio show on FOX Sports 1 as well.
