According to a press release issued from NBCUniversal, WWE SmackDown will begin airing live on the USA Network on Friday, September 13.
WWE and NBCUniversal agreed to a five-year deal last September 2023 for SmackDown to return to the cable network.
SmackDown was set to air on FS1 through September, with football airing on the regular FOX broadcast network for the remainder of the deal between WWE and FOX.
Below is the press release from NBCUniversal
A DYNAMIC LINEUP OF FRESH ORIGINALS, EXCLUSIVE LIVE SPORTS, RETURNING HITS AND BELOVED FRANCHISES SUPERCHARGE NBCUNIVERSAL’S CABLE PORTFOLIO ACROSS BRAVO, E!, OXYGEN TRUE CRIME, SYFY AND USA NETWORK FOR 2024-25 SEASON
Bravo Announces Unscripted Series “Making It in Manhattan,” (W/T) and Renews 15 Fan Favorites, Including “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen,” “The Valley,” Multiple Cities from “The Real Housewives” Franchise, “Below Deck,” “Married to Medicine” and More, With Nearly Every Series Demonstrating Year-Over-Year Viewership Growth
New Competition Series “The Anonymous” Premieres this Summer on USA Network While “WWE Smackdown” Returns to the Network on Sept. 13
A New Unscripted Series from Snoop Dogg Joins E!’s Slate Alongside Season Two of “House of Villains” and Signature Red Carpet Franchise “Live from E!” with Laverne Cox
Oxygen True Crime, the Home of High-Quality True Crime Programming, Greenlights Seven New Series and Specials with Nine Series Set to Return, Including “Cold Justice” and “Prosecuting Evil with Kelly Siegler”
SYFY Adds New Scripted Original Series “Revival” and Season 3 of “SurrealEstate” to Its 2025 Lineup Along with the Upcoming Season 2 Premieres of “Reginald the Vampire” and “The Ark”
NEW YORK — May 9, 2024 – NBCUniversal, home of the most powerful entertainment portfolio on television, unveils a wide-ranging programming slate across Bravo, E!, USA Network, SYFY and Oxygen True Crime that includes a trio of bold new original series, exclusive live sports and returning fan favorites for the 2024-25 season.
New series highlights across the portfolio include “Making It in Manhattan” W/T (Bravo), “Revival” (SYFY) and “Untitled Cori Broadus and Snoop Dogg Project” W/T (E!). Through the end of 2024, USA Network will become the exclusive linear home of both WWE flagship programs, “WWE Monday Night RAW” and “WWE SmackDown,” which returns to the network on Sept 13. as part of a new multi-year partnership.
Additional season pick-ups of fan favorites include “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen (Bravo),” multiple cities from “The Real Housewives” franchise (Bravo), “Below Deck” (Bravo), “The Valley” (Bravo), “Summer House” (Bravo), “Snapped” (Oxygen True Crime), “Cold Justice” (Oxygen True Crime) and more.
“From Bravoholics to Oxygen’s true-crime junkies and E!’s pop culture mavens to USA’s sports and WWE fans, our cable networks are home to some of the most loyal and passionate audiences across all of entertainment,” said Frances Berwick, Chairman, NBCUniversal Entertainment. “The strength of our individual brands combined with our continued investment in distinctive original content continues to drive deep connection and engagement with viewers.”
Last year and year-to-date, Bravo and USA Network have once again secured their positions as top-five cable entertainment networks in the key 18-49 demo in prime. Bravo ranks #1 among key female demos and USA Network is ranking as one of the fastest-growing networks in the 18-49 demo among the top 20 cable entertainment networks. Nearly every Bravo show that has premiered since December 2022 has seen year-over-year growth, and 2023 ranks as Bravo’s best year ever on Peacock, the official streaming home of the network.
E! continues to dominate the pop culture conversation with “Live from E!” linear viewership up 27% for 2024. This year’s broadcast of “Live from E!: Met Gala” ranks as the network’s most-watched Met Gala coverage in 7 years and delivered 382 million engagements across all digital and social platforms.
SYFY remains one of cable’s highest-reaching entertainment networks in total day across all key demos year-to-date. In 2023, Oxygen True Crime had its best year ever in Total Day and Prime cable rankings.
Below please find upcoming programming for each network. For photos and additional show information, go to http://www.nbcumv.com/.
Starting in September and through the end of 2024, USA Network will serve as the exclusive linear home of the WWE’s two tentpole franchises, “WWE Monday Night RAW” and “WWE SmackDown,” which returns to the network on Sept. 13 as part of a new multi-year partnership.
To celebrate, USA Network will be launching WWE Week on Sept. 9. All week long, the network will air films from the “Fast and the Furious” franchise starring Dwayne Johnson, “Blockers” starring John Cena, and the Peacock documentary “Bray Wyatt: Becoming Immortal.”