Report: Reason WWE Weren't Mentioned At FOX & NBCUniversal Upfronts Revealed
What was going on at Monday's upfront from NBCUniversal and FOX?
WWE's main roster programming in Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown currently air on NBCUniversal's USA Network and FOX respectively but there was a stir about the shows' futures on the stations after WWE weren't mentioned in upfronts from NBCUniversal and FOX on May 15.
This comes at a time when WWE are in talks with FOX and NBCUniversal as part of an exclusive negotiating period over media rights deals for Raw and SmackDown, with their current deals set to expire in 2024. PWInsider Elite noted the exclusive period with NBCUniversal and FOX has either already expired or is about to expire. Once the window expires, WWE can speak to all potential media rights bidders about deals to broadcast Raw and SmackDown in the United States.
That negotiation window closing isn't the reason WWE weren't mentioned during yesterday's upfronts, though. Instead, WWE programming is categorised as sports content within NBCUniversal and FOX and Monday's upfronts were produced and pushed by the entertainment divisions of the respective networks.
Monday Night Raw has aired on USA Network since 2005. Friday Night SmackDown has been broadcast on FOX since 2019.
Written by Aidan Gibbons
Editor-in-Chief of Cultaholic.com Twitter: @theaidangibbons
