Tag: Fox Sports

FOX To Air WWE Special This Sunday

FOX is scheduled to air a WWE special this Sunday along with their NFL coverage.

“WWE’s Best Moments of 2020” will air alongside FOX’s NFL games this Sunday. Fans should check their local listings for when it will air.

WWE issued the following announcement on Sunday’s special:

Don’t miss WWE’s Best Moments of 2020 this Sunday on FOX

WWE brings all the action of the squared circle to FOX this Sunday with a special presentation of “The Best Moments of 2020,” alongside the NFL’s hard-hitting lineup.

The FOX special will feature a collection of the past year’s best matches and moments from The Undertaker, Universal Champion Roman Reigns, WWE Champion Drew McIntyre, John Cena, Raw Woman’s Champion Asuka, SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley, Raw Tag Team Champions The Street Profits, Sasha Banks, The Fiend, AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Edge, Seth Rollins, Braun Strowman and Matt Riddle.

Check your local listings and don’t miss a moment of the action when WWE looks back on the best moments of 2020 on FOX.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Former WWE Star CM Punk Opens Up About Signing With FOX, If He Would Ever Get Back In The Ring?

Phil Brooks who is known better to wrestling fans under the name of CM Punk was interviewed on the Fox Sports FS1 program WWE Backstage on Tuesday. the studio program which is part of the partnership between World Wrestling Entertainment and Fox Sports announced CM Punk as an analyst for their program last week which covers the happenings in WWE. In 2013 Punk abruptly left WWE after not being happy with the direction of the company and his on-screen character and medical issues. During the interview with WWE Backstage host, Renee Young CM Punk confirmed to viewers that he is not signed directly with WWE but instead signed with Fox Sports as an analyst for the program. Punk also went on to say that this allows him the freedom to openly criticize WWE something he has not been afraid to do in the past.

During his time on WWE programming, CM Punk became one of the most popular characters often referred to as “the voice of the voiceless” often voicing displeasure with WWE and it’s programming and being an anti-hero to fans. it has long been speculated whether CM Punk would ever return to wrestling or WWE but Punk says the opportunity that came up for him to appear on WWE Backstage wasn’t even around 6 months ago.

WWE’s next big event Survivor Series will take place in Chicago Illinois later this month which is the home of CM Punk that fact has left many WWE fans speculating whether or not he will, in fact, appear at the annual event? in regards to a return in the ring CM Punk says that he has learned to never say never.

Watch the full interview below:

Source: Trevor Decker News

Backstage News On Fox Wanting Jerry “The King” Lawler To Work On Their WWE FS1 Studio Show

WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler could be one of the hosts of the WWE studio show that is scheduled to begin airing on FS1 later this year, according to a new report from @Wrestlevotes.

The report noted that Fox officials have floated the idea of Lawler being a main part of the show to WWE. The feeling is that Lawler’s image and voice will be familiar to fans, something Fox is looking for, likely to help bring viewers back to the product.

There’s no word yet on who might work with Lawler to host the show, but it was recently reported that Renee Young was “highly likely” to land the role of host.

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross recently revealed that a Fox executive wanted to bring him in as a host of the FS1 show, but that was before he parted ways with the company and signed with AEW.

Triple H revealed back in April that the weekly WWE studio show will air on Fox Sports 1 on Tuesday nights, beginning in the fall. This will be the second WWE-Fox show as SmackDown begins airing Friday nights on the Fox broadcast network on October 4.

The studio show on FS1 will feature discussions on the various WWE happenings, plus appearances by familiar faces from the past and present, according to Triple H. He also said this is something he’s wanted to do for a long time. Below is the clip from April where he revealed the show:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Triple H Announces New “Can’t Miss” WWE Studio Show For FS1 To Premiere Later This Year

Triple H appeared on Fox Sports this morning to announce that WWE will premiere a new studio show on FS1 this fall. The discussion show will air on Tuesday nights.

It was noted that more details on the studio show will be announced soon, including the premiere date and the weekly timeslot. It was noted that there will be familiar faces on the show, from the past and present.

WWE SmackDown will jump to Fox beginning Friday, October 4. It’s been rumored that more WWE programming could be included in the new deal with Fox and WWE has wanted to do a studio show for some time now.

Triple H said this studio show is something he’s wanted to do for a long time.

“This is something I’ve wanted to happen for a long time,” Triple H revealed. “I think this is the perfect opportunity for it. A studio show, for us, it kind of, because of the sports entertainment aspect of it, it’s an endless show where you’re talking about the athletic component of it, it’s also an entertainment… where you’re talking about where things are going, the storylines and the characters all of it. This is going to be one of those shows, that if you’re a WWE fan, across the board, this is the show that will be ‘can’t miss’ because it’s going to talk about everything you love, in a way you can’t get anywhere else.”

Triple H continued, “To take people deeper into the personal lives and the day-to-days of what goes on behind-the-scenes to being a WWE Superstar, and anything that goes with it. That success, that failure, that heartbreak, that sorrow, that elation of WrestleMania moments, all of it. To see that all take place here, but in a way that’s never been shown before. I can’t wait for this.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

News On SmackDown’s Touring Schedule Following Move To FOX

There will be various changes to WWE when the FOX deal goes through in this fall. This is especially true when it comes to touring.

According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, SmackDown talent will be doing a Thursday through Sunday road schedule once it starts on FOX. The second night of the road schedule will be live TV. The four-show per week road schedule has been a WWE tradition for years.

SmackDown currently tours from Saturday through Tuesday, while RAW tours from Friday to Monday with both tours ending with their respective television tapings.

The first Friday night episode of SmackDown Live on FOX will take place on October 4th from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The next shows will be October 11th in Denver, CO, October 18th in Columbus, OH and October 25th in Kansas City, MO.

There are already reports that SmackDown could move to three hours when it moves to FOX, with the third hour airing on FS1 following the two-hour show on Fox. MKM Partners analyst Eric Handler recently raised his target price on WWE stock to $110 from $95 a share based on “the relaunch of the WWE Network, monetization from a third hour of media time for Smackdown, and added revenue from three more television networks.”

Raw’s schedule will not change, as they will continue to do Friday through Monday. SmackDown has been a part of WWE programming since 1999, starting on UPN. It has since been shown on the CW, MyNetworkTV, SyFy and most recently, the USA Network.

SmackDown Live will debut on FOX on Friday, October 4th, 2019.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Backstage News On WWE SmackDown’s Move To FOX

As previously noted, WWE will begin airing SmackDown Live on the FOX Network each Friday Night starting October 4, 2019. FOX Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier described the move as “short term” back in February, but since then, there have been few details to explain what he exactly meant.

On the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer revealed that there is now talk within the WWE to potentially add a third hour to SmackDown once it makes the transition over to Friday nights on FOX. The feeling among higher ups is that since they have to continue filming for 205 Live, a show that never grew as successful as WWE hoped, it may be beneficial to do the expected first two hours from 8 pm – 10 pm on FOX and then continue from 10 pm – 11 pm on FOX’s affiliate, FS1.

WWE can reportedly gain upwards of $50,000,000 a year from FOX if this is the route they ultimately choose to take. It is by no means a done deal at this point, but the momentum backstage apparently has people within the financial community expecting this aspect of the deal to come together.

It was noted how there wasn’t much discussion about doing a three hour show until FS1 lost it’s UFC programming to the multi-year deal between ESPN and UFC. Adding more WWE programming could be one way that FOX can potentially counter that loss.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

A Look At FOX Moving WWE SmackDown Live To Another Night Following October 4th Debut

Earlier this month, FOX Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier had some interesting comments about SmackDown coming to the FOX network in October. SmackDown is scheduled to debut on the network on Friday, October 4th. While it was originally announced the SmackDown would be moving to Friday nights; Collier admitted that SmackDown may only be there for the short-term.

Chris Hayner of Gamespot who covered Collier’s press conference reported that when asked about the future of the sitcom Last Man Standing, which currently airs on Friday nights, Collier said that for the “short term” Friday night was going to belong to WWE.

https://twitter.com/ChrisHayner/status/1093233580216438785

That kind of language seems to indicate that FOX is looking to move SmackDown to another night during the week, which would be in theory a win for WWE since Friday and Saturday nights are typically the worst nights of the week for television viewership. A move to any night Tuesday through Thursday would be an improvement for SmackDown.

However it can also be interpreted that FOX is unhappy with SmackDown’s declining viewership on USA, and while the show will almost assuredly draw greater viewership on network television, FOX should probably be concerned about the significant amount of fans SmackDown has lost in recent months. In 2018, SmackDown averaged 2.352 million viewers. So far in 2019, the show is averaging 2.060 million viewers. If that wasn’t troubling enough, add in the fact that the first quarter of the year is typically when WWE draws its highest viewership. At this time last year, SmackDown was averaging 2.566 million viewers, so in a single year SmackDown has seen it’s audience drop by 20 percent.

How does that compare to what FOX is currently showing on Friday night? FOX is in an interesting position since when it acquired SmackDown last June, it was under the assumption that it would be a huge boost to their typical Friday night lineup. However, FOX began broadcasting the previously canceled ABC sitcom Last Man Standing which began to draw a larger viewership on Friday night. Averaging around 6 million viewers per episode, and coupled with another sitcom The Cool Kids (around 4.7 million viewers) and long-standing reality show Hell’s Kitchen (around 3 million viewers), FOX had a very competitive Friday night lineup.

SmackDown will certainly receive some form of a boost being on FOX. FOX will advertise it’s investment heavily, and if nothing else FOX is in more homes (114 million) than USA (94 million) so more people will have access to the show. There are also some advantages SmackDown has over sitcoms or reality television; SmackDown will have 52 new episodes a year instead of 20 to 25, and SmackDown takes up a full two hours as opposed to relying on multiple shows to draw viewership.

Still, it’s unrealistic to expect SmackDown to be averaging 6 million viewers per episode, particularly given their recent trend in viewership. Perhaps the reason Collier is thinking about moving SmackDown is because he doesn’t believe it will be able to replicate the success the network has had on Friday nights. Could that mean SmackDown is being moved to another night?

It will be tough for SmackDown to crack another night; last fall FOX programming averaged 7.14 million viewers per night. It seems very, very difficult for SmackDown to match that total. Part of the reason that FOX number is so high is because the network secured a slate of Thursday Night Football games; giving Thursday nights a shot in the arm. However, the Thursday night games are only for 11 weeks a year, which means that there is theoretically an opening for SmackDown in the weeks there are not games. FOX is currently filling that timeslot with Gotham and The Orvilleboth of which do between 3-4 million viewers per episode, which SmackDown could potentially attain.

Ironically the weakest night of the week for FOX is Tuesday night, which is Lethal Weapon (down 23 percent in the 18-49 demographic from last year) and The Gifted (averaging just 2.58 million viewers per episode). SmackDown could conceivably take over the Tuesday night slot, because unlike the other nights of the week, it would not have to see a massive jump in viewership to outperform the shows that used to be on during that time period.

It should be noted that we don’t know the exact specifics of WWE’s deal with FOX. It is possible that when the deal was signed, FOX agreed to air SmackDown on Friday nights for a particular length of time, before it could be moved to another night. When Collier said that SmackDown on Friday night was for the “short term” it could imply that FOX is contractually obligated to keep SmackDown in that slot for a period of time before it can be moved.

There is also the possibility that the sliding viewership for SmackDown might prevent FOX from committing to it on the FOX network for a long period of time. Losing 20 percent of your audience over a single year is a difficult pill to swallow, especially when viewership has been trending downward for years. If that turns out to be the case, SmackDown may be moved off of FOX and onto FS1, FOX’s cable sports station. SmackDown would be a great fit on FS1 and be a huge boost for that station, but it would certainly take the wind out of WWE’s sails.

Source: Wrestling Inc

FOX CEO Says WWE SmackDown Is On Friday Nights “Short Term”, Confirms Deal Includes Wrestling Content Outside Of SmackDown

Image result for SmackDown Live FOX

It’s now confirmed by a network executive that WWE SmackDown will air live when it moves to Fox on Friday, October 9. However, it sounds like Friday nights may not be a permanent timeslot for the blue brand.

Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier spoke about SmackDown during the Fox executive session at the Television Critics Association press tour this week. He confirmed that SmackDown will air live, which we had reported previously.

“It’s live, and what’s remarkable [is] these are people that know their audience,” said Collier, who admitted he is a longtime pro wrestling fan. “They’re great storytellers and I think it fits beautifully with what we’re doing.”

Gamespot’s Chris Hayner covered the speech and revealed on Twitter that Collier said WWE is on Friday nights for the “short term,” indicating that it could be moved to another night. Hayner tweeted: “‘Short term, Friday night is going to WWE,’ Collier says when asked about Last Man Standing. That show could go elsewhere. But WWE being ‘short term’ Fridays tells me they may move it around.”

https://twitter.com/ChrisHayner/status/1093233580216438785

It was also confirmed that more WWE content is planned for the new partnership with Fox as they look to treat wrestling more as a sport than a weekly, episode TV series.

“The Fox sports networks, FS1, and others, will have some other wrestling–not live Smackdown, not Raw, but other ties to the WWE world,” Collier revealed.

There’s no word yet on what kind if content they have planned but it was speculated that we will see recap shows and “talking head series” on FS1.

Source: WrestlingINC

Fox Sports Suspends Kenny Florian

Source: WrestlingINC

Fox Sports has suspended former UFC title challenger Kenny Florian after being exposed for plagiarism earlier this week. Florian wrote an article earlier this week previewing UFC Fight Night 81, while taking parts of analysis from Lee Wylie of The Fight City. Florian copped to the claims, but said he did it on accident.

UFC on Fox’s tweeted about the matter: