Wie Verantwortliche der WWE in einem Interview mit Variety.com verraten haben, soll es die WWE in Betracht ziehen, die Show „SmackDown!“ demn\u00e4chsst immer live auszustrahlen, wof\u00fcr man die Show eventuell sogar von Freitag auf einen anderen Wochentag wie z.B. Dienstag verlegen m\u00f6chte.<\/p>\n
Der Grund f\u00fcr diese Idee soll der demn\u00e4chst auslaufende WWE Vertrag mit NBC Universal sein.<\/p>\n
Hier der Original-Artikel von Variety.com:<\/p>\n
WWE Aims to Pin Down Rich New TV Rights Deals<\/p>\n If USA Network wants to retain its biggest hit, \u201cMonday Night Raw,\u201d it\u2019s gonna have to pay.<\/p>\n Next month, for the first time, WWE will shop the rights to \u201cRaw\u201d and all of its shows at the same time \u2014 a list of weekly series that includes Syfy\u2019s \u201cFriday Night SmackDown,\u201d \u201cMain Event\u201d on ION Television, the CW\u2019s \u201cSaturday Morning Slam\u201d and reality show \u201cTotal Divas\u201d on E!<\/p>\n The goal is to significantly increase the $139.5 million in TV licensing fees WWE earns each year for its shows, and attempt to get closer to the rich network deals that sports organizations like the NBA, NHL NASCAR, as well as soccer command.<\/p>\n In the past, deals for WWE\u2019s series were brokered individually on a staggered timeline, usually every three to four years or so. But WWE has spent nearly two years quietly lining up rights to expire simultaneously in an effort to secure higher fees and appease shareholders who have grown increasingly frustrated that the company\u2019s TV deals are not worth more at a time when live \u201cevent\u201d programming is more valuable than ever.<\/p>\n By offering up all its shows at once, \u201cWe\u2019re letting the marketplace determine if it\u2019s interested in all or pieces,\u201d says Michelle Wilson, WWE\u2019s chief revenue and marketing officer. The company also is tackling a self-inflicted perception problem. For years, it\u2019s touted its over-the-top characters and soap opera storylines ahead of the live aspect of the year-round action in the ring.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had to evolve our thinking,\u201d Wilson says. \u201cWe are clearly entertainment-based, but if you think about the characteristics of our brand, it\u2019s live action, and that\u2019s sports. We want to be compensated for a live audience, since live content is getting a very significant premium in the marketplace.\u201d<\/p>\n The company cites Nascar\u2019s impressive dealmaking this summer as an example. The racing league secured a new 10-year deal with NBC and Fox worth $820 million a year. And that increase came in the face of declining ratings for many of its races. WWE argues that \u201cRaw\u201d and \u201cSmackDown\u201d alone are just as attractive, with a rabid fanbase that\u2019s helped build networks, and its series are diverse in ethnicity and age.<\/p>\n Combined, the shows air 156 episodes a year that average a 2.2 household rating. Nascar airs 154 races and averages a 1.38 household rating among viewers, who are 92% white and over 50. WWE\u2019s audience is far more diverse and broken out fairly evenly among age groups. A selling point is that 44% of them are under 34.<\/p>\n That\u2019s helped boost gross ratings points, something Madison Avenue keeps a close eye on. Another plus for WWE: 90% of \u201cRaw\u2019s\u201d and \u201cSmackDown\u2019s\u201d viewers watch the shows live plus same day, making the shows DVR proof. (Think NBC\u2019s latest stunt with \u201cThe Sound of Music\u201d.)<\/p>\n \u201cThe value of live content has gone from becoming important to essential,\u201d says George Barrios, WWE\u2019s chief strategy and financial officer. \u201cAs a network, if you don\u2019t have live must-see content your existence comes into question.\u201d<\/p>\n To make its show more attractive, WWE is considering a live version of its two-hour \u201cSmackDown,\u201d which currently is taped on Tuesday before its Friday airing. To do that, costs to produce the series would increase, due to scheduling, and the show would likely need to move to a new night. But WWE would be willing to make the switch in return for a better fee for the series.<\/p>\n WWE added a third hour to \u201cRaw\u201d last year (starting with its 1,000th episode) in an effort to expand storylines, increase exposure for its stars, but also enable USA to generate more advertising revenue after three-hour specials performed well.<\/p>\n The Stamford, Conn.-based company ideally would like to partner with a conglomerate that owns a variety of channels the way NBCU currently airs many of WWE\u2019s shows. Along with \u201cRaw,\u201d \u201cSmackDown\u201d and \u201cTotal Divas,\u201d specials like \u201cTribute to the Troops\u201d and a shortened version of its annual \u201cWrestleMania\u201d pay-per-view also air on NBC. WWE already has reached out to or held meetings with the expected list of players who own a variety of channels hungry for programming, including A&E, Disney, Viacom, 21st Century Fox and Discovery.<\/p>\n Negotiations and bids can\u2019t take place until Feb. 15, when NBCU accepts or rejects WWE\u2019s final offer; other bids are due Feb. 28, with WWE set to select its media partners by March 4. Should a new deal with another conglom happen, WWE\u2019s shows wouldn\u2019t move to a new network until October.<\/p>\n Yet even as WWE makes the rounds of media congloms, industry insiders say they believe there is no way that NBCUniversal will loosen its grip on WWE. \u201cMonday Night Raw\u201d is a huge contributor to USA\u2019s bottom line and weekly ratings stats; without \u201cRaw\u201d on its schedule, USA Network would drop from first place to as low as No. 4 among basic entertainment networks, costing the company premium advertising dollars. Syfy would also lose a sizable audience without \u201cSmackDown,\u201d which has raised viewership by 35% for the network. \u201cDivas\u201d is a hit for E! but has perhaps has benefitted WWE more, given that it\u2019s helped the company attract more women, which currently make up around 35% of its audience.<\/p>\n The third hour of \u201cRaw\u201d is up 44% vs. programming that aired in the timeslot last year. \u201cSaturday Morning Slam\u201d is up 34% for the CW, \u201cMain Event\u201d is up 25% for ION and \u201cDivas\u201d has boosted ratings 166% for E!<\/p>\n WWE\u2019s pay-per-views, including annual juggernauts \u201cWrestleMania\u201d and \u201cSummerSlam\u201d won\u2019t be part of the negotiations, since those will air on the company\u2019s new subscription-based WWE Network, which will also include original series and access to the company\u2019s VOD library. Launch plans for the channel, which WWE sees as its own NFL Network, have yet to be revealed. However, WWE maintains that it could break even on the venture if it can sign up 800,000 to 1 million subscribers willing to pay around $10 to $14 per month.<\/p>\n Digital next-day rights to shows would also become part of any new licensing deal with a TV network, costing Hulu Plus the programming it currently airs. In the past, TV Everywhere wasn\u2019t a hot topic for networks when WWE inked its current network deals.<\/p>\n \u201cPartners who pay licensing fees are now expecting to get the TV Everywhere distribution rights,\u201d Barrios says.<\/p>\n As it tries to land a better deal, WWE is ready to flex some of its marketing muscle, eager to show off how it\u2019s been able to attract more high-profile advertisers to sponsor its PPVs and tie-in with its wrestlers, known as Superstars. Those now include General Motors, Ford Motor Co., Disney, Doritos, DreamWorks, Paramount, Kmart, Subway, Taco Bell, Colgate, Frito-Lay, Schick and Mattel \u2014 attractive to any network, since the channels are the entities that sell and earn the ad dollars. WWE controls PPV sponsorships, digital ad sales and talent appearances.<\/p>\n Other revenue streams also must be taken into consideration. WWE\u2019s social media teams also connect with millions of fans daily, while its magazine, websites, toy lines, YouTube channel (for which it produces 10 to 12 hours of original programming a year) and videogames are popular \u2014 and ratings rise for shows that feature WWE\u2019s talent roster, including John Cena (see above), as guest stars.<\/p>\n \u201cWWE is a proven ratings juggernaut, making USA Network No. 1 for the past eight years and delivering more average viewers than every sports property, with the exception of the NFL,\u201d said WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon in a statement to Variety. \u201cGiven the increasing demand for live, DVR-proof content, we believe the market will value our programming significantly above where we\u2019ve been in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n Adds Wilson of the upcoming negotiations: \u201cThis is new territory we\u2019re in. All of the things we\u2019ve done over the last five years have helped raise the profile of our brand and there\u2019s recognition from the marketplace of what we deliver. Now it\u2019s up to the marketplace to tell us if we\u2019re worth it.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n (Quelle: Variety.com)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SmackDown! demn\u00e4chst dauerhaft LIVE und nicht mehr Freitags?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"SmackDown! demn\u00e4chst dauerhaft LIVE und nicht mehr Freitags? http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/ppnjlbo","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"socialize_text":"If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment<\/a> or subscribing to the RSS<\/abbr> feed<\/a> to have future articles delivered to your feed reader.","socialize":"11,12","af_post_views_count":"99"},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"post_badge":[],"class_list":["post-47903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wwe-news"],"custom_fields":{"socialize_text":"If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment<\/a> or subscribing to the RSS<\/abbr> feed<\/a> to have future articles delivered to your feed reader.","socialize":"11,12","af_post_views_count":"99"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","covernews-slider-full":"","covernews-slider-center":"","covernews-featured":"","covernews-medium":"","covernews-medium-square":""},"author_info":{"info":["WrestlingCorner"]},"category_info":"WWE-News<\/a>","tag_info":"WWE-News","comment_count":"0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2gB8Z-csD","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingcorner.de\/page\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingcorner.de\/page\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingcorner.de\/page\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingcorner.de\/page\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingcorner.de\/page\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47903"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingcorner.de\/page\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47905,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingcorner.de\/page\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47903\/revisions\/47905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingcorner.de\/page\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingcorner.de\/page\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingcorner.de\/page\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47903"},{"taxonomy":"post_badge","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingcorner.de\/page\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_badge?post=47903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}