Before the WWE publicly announced their new TV distribution deals for RAW and Smackdown Live last week, Stephanie McMahon conducted an interview with The Drum. During the interview, Stephanie discussed a series of topics, including the future of Mixed-Match Challenge, if the WWE would ever sign a content distribution deal with Amazon, and more.
On the idea of the WWE eventually moving their flagship programs – RAW and Smackdown Live away from traditional broadcast and cable television, Stephanie said:
“Linear is still incredible important and reaches a huge audience and delivers, but absolutely, I see content moving everywhere – that’s why WWE is everywhere, because we want to be ready when that time is right,” she said.
Discussing the future of the Mixed-Match Challenge, the WWE’s first web series with Facebook Watch that aired earlier this year, Stephanie said:
“It had over 100 million views and it was considered a success by Facebook, we’re now in conversations to see where we go from here, but we’re nimble and flexible,”
WWE ultimately re-signed with the USA Network for Monday Night RAW for five more years, and will be moving Smackdown Live over to Fox starting in October 2019, where the show will move to Fridays, but remain live.
With the growth of the WWE Network and the WWE’s massive presence on social media, it stands to reason the WWE will likely grow their partnership with Facebook and be open to having a working relationship with companies like Amazon in the future.