Television By Numbers reports that the WWE will debut a new one hour show on the ION Network starting October 3rd. “WWE Main Event” will feature WWE superstars from the Raw and Smackdown rosters according to a press release from the WWE.
As MMA fans recall, ION was the home for a couple UFC Prelims broadcasts although the ratings for the ION broadcasts were forgettable. However, it replaces WWE Superstars and NXT which were taken off of television and put on its WWE channel. Another return to television helps with advertising and sponsorships despite the fact it is ION.
Cageside Seats also adds what this may mean for the WWE Network:
The other issue that comes to mind is what this means for the WWE Network. Perhaps it won’t get off the ground after all, seeing as this show isn’t even slated to debut until Oct. 3 and the Network was supposed to launch late this year. With problems cutting distribution deals, it’s safe to assume it may not ever come to fruition. And that might not be such a bad thing.
Payout Take:
Will the WWE’s show do better than the UFC did on the ION network? WWE ratings on SyFy are decent and, in fact, were much better than TUF Live or Bellator. As we note, the move is a positive for the WWE since it means it will have the ability to sell ad time as well as feature its superstars on another platform. But, will this be pro wrestling overkill? With Raw going to 3 hours permanently in July and Smackdown’s 2 hours, the pro wrestling fan will have 6 hours of weekly wrestling without mentioning its monthly PPVs.
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