WWE Agrees HUGE Temporary Deal For Raw's TV Future
Raw was supposed to stop airing on USA Network in October ahead of January's Netflix deal, but...
TKO's Q1 earnings report included news that WWE has struck up a temporary deal with USA Network to keep flagship show Monday Night Raw on the station until it jumps to Netflix in January 2025.
WWE have avoided an awkward buffer zone between October 2024-January 2025 by agreeing fresh terms with USA, and it's understood the deal is worth $25m. That'll cover a three month window. There had been lots of chatter about possible down time for the premier brand, but that won't be something the company has to worry about after all.
SmackDown is still set to make the leap to USA Network in October as things stand. Meanwhile, third show NXT will jump from USA to The CW around the same time. It's all systems go and a lot of moving and shaking for WWE's TV ahead of the Netflix startup then.
In short, anyone worried about Raw's immediate future shouldn't be. WWE has pocketed itself another cool $25m for just three months of telly, then they'll move the flagship to Netflix as planned.
$25m for approx 12 episodes isn't exactly bad!