WWE and NBC Universal signed a new multi-year deal that will keep Monday Night RAW on USA Network, Smackdown on SyFy and Total Divas on E! for the next few years. The announcement was made yesterday by Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President Talent, Live Events & Creative, from the stage at the NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment upfront presentation at the Javitz Center in New York.
“USA Network President Chris McCumber, Syfy President Dave Howe and I are incredibly pleased to renew this strategic partnership with WWE,” said NBCUniversal Cable Chairman Bonnie Hammer. “In today’s TV landscape, live event programming is an extraordinarily valuable asset, and WWE remains the only entertainment franchise that consistently delivers this on a 52-week a year basis. We look forward to bringing WWE’s action-packed and unique brand of drama to the wide audiences across our cable networks for many years to come.”
WWE Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Vince McMahon said that they are proud to continue their long-standing partnership with NBCUniversal. “We are excited about our future as we further the reach and popularity of our live, family-friendly entertainment programming 52 weeks a year.”
In this new deal, WWE will continue to work with Bunim-Murray Productions to produce Total Divas for E! which will go into its third season later this year.
The announcement ends months of speculation as to where WWE TV would land after the current deal was about to expire later this year. Unlike previous years, WWE made it a point that all TV licenses expire at the same time so they can negotiate a better package for all their shows at the same time.
Talks between WWE and NBC Universal came to a halt in February when their exclusive window expired and WWE started talking to other networks. NBC Universal still had the right to match any offer and keep WWE on their network if someone else made a competing bid.
