FOX Sports has terminated the employment of around 20 producers as it reshuffles its programming, with WWE Backstage getting hit as well. The news was reported by the Sports Business Journal.
In a statement, the sports network said, “Today, we announced programming changes designed to better address the needs of our business. As a result, some positions in our production department have been eliminated.”
The weekly WWE Backstage will be no more and there are rumors that it will only be produced when there’s big events or pay-per-views. FS1 decided to cancel the studio boxing and soccer shows from its programming as well and made major adjustments to its golf channel, including relocating employees to a different state and eliminating jobs as well.
Backstage started in October of last year but was put in a very difficult time slot, that of 11PM where it has struggled to gain viewers. The show raised some eyebrows when the network hired CM Punk to be on its panel, marking Punk’s first association with WWE since he quit several years ago.
FS1 will still air WWE programming on Tuesdays, with the 2008 Royal Rumble airing at 7PM ET tonight but there will be no new Backstage tonight.
