Bengaluru, May 25: Smackdown Live broadcasting rights are still up for grabs as the current right holder is set to end ties from 2019. Previous reports suggested that NBC Universal acquired the rights for WWE Raw. That means the flagship show of the WWE will continue to feature in its home on prime time. USA Network broadcasts it at 8 PM, every Monday night. There will not be change to its three-hour long format, either.
But, could there be a possibility to see Smackdown in the same format. If you believe the current reports, the chances of the same are high. NBC Universal has not agreed to the deal by the WWE, till date. So, some of the other sports channels will be ready to buy the rights for the blue brand broadcast. Thereafter, they will try to host the show, in a bigger way.
There’s no denying that NBC not striking a deal for Smackdown can be a blessing for the WWE officials if some other network can grab this opportunity to telecast the weekly show of the WWE. This would be quite huge for them as Smackdown is the second longest running weekly televised program in TV history.