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WWE LEAVES THE CW!
Does that make it just the C?
02-08-08
When UPN
and the WB combined to form the CW, SmackDown! was one of
the shows that was guaranteed to return to the new network.
It was a highliy rated show compared to many of the other
offerings the network had snaked from its two parents. Along
with Seventh Heaven and America’s Next
Top Model, SmackDown! was one of the few ratings success
stories that the CW could point to.
And
now, they’ll be going elsewhere.
The
WWE announced today that they are going to be leaving the
CW effective the end of the 2007/8 Television season. The
exclusive negotiation period between the WWE and the CW
ended on the 31st of January and that means that the WWE
can talk to anyone.
What
is being talked about is the WWE having an offer made from
some other network that led them to not talking to the CW
any longer. The most likely candidates are NBC and USA,
both of which they have current deals with and who are owned
by the same folks. The writers strike led to the networks
looking for alternative programming and the WWE was contacted
about doing so by a couple of different groups.
Where
they’ll end up is a question that’s going to
have to be answered in the next couple of months. They could
finally erase the concept of separated brands, though that
would lead to a gutting of the roster as the number of slots
would certainly dry up.
They
could start SmackDown! on another network, which is most
likely, but the WWE’s rep right now isn’t great.
We could see some sort of angle that absorbs the ECW brand
and SD! goes to Sci-Fi, which might be interesting. Who
knows what’ll happen.
More info as it becomes available.
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