NXT is coming to USA Wednesday's 8-10 starting September 18

[Sabretooth]

Basically what the title says.

Official statement:

"NEW YORK and STAMFORD, Conn. — WWE and USA Network today announced an agreement in principle to air WWE’s weekly Wednesday night show, NXT, live on USA Network at 8/7 C starting Sept. 18.
Following NXT’s growth in popularity, the new two-hour weekly show will expand its reach on USA Network, the leader in cable entertainment, while staying in its Wednesday night timeslot that it has held since 2015.
“The move to USA Network provides an opportunity to deepen our relationship with NBCUniversal and further build the NXT brand,” said Vince McMahon, WWE Chairman & CEO. “Over the long term, our goal is to develop a following that can be monetized to the same level as our flagship programs, Raw and SmackDown.”
“USA Network and WWE have one of the longest and most successful partnerships in television history,” said Chris McCumber, President, Entertainment Networks – USA and SYFY. “As the No. 1 cable entertainment network, we’re excited to add NXT to our weekly lineup alongside powerhouse flagship Raw and to bring a new generation of Superstars to a wide audience.”
NXT launched in 2010 and has risen to become WWE’s third global brand alongside Raw and SmackDown, hosting nearly 200 live events around the world each year. Airing on Wednesday nights at 8 p.m., NXT has been WWE Network’s No. 1 weekly series.
NXT offers a unique blend of authentic in-ring action with exciting and entertaining storylines that feature WWE’s hottest up-and-coming Superstars, including Adam Cole, Velveteen Dream, Shayna Baszler, Johnny Gargano, Matt Riddle, Bianca Belair, Io Shirai, Candice LeRae, Tommaso Ciampa, Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish. The brand’s diverse roster consists of elite athletes from the NFL, collegiate and amateur sports, MMA, competitive bodybuilding and international sports such as rugby, kushti and kabaddi. It is also the birthplace to 80 percent of the current Raw and SmackDown rosters, including Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Charlotte Flair, Bayley, Sasha Banks, Alexa Bliss, Bray Wyatt and Baron Corbin.
The series will continue to emanate from Full Sail University in Orlando as part of WWE’s production partnership with the preeminent entertainment, media, arts and technology institution."

Thoughts?

 

[Vegeta]

Well, from what I've heard Vince will have his hand in it now, so it's pretty much about to dip really bad in quality and stuff.

But hey, Wednesday Night Wars are upon us.

 

[Hoss]

Everyone can stop saying "it isn't a war" now. Because it literally is now a war. It's no Monday Night War, but a war nonetheless.

 

[Deezy]

Such a war they're using their brand that while being supposedly popular was a money loss....now they get ad revenue which is even more money for them.

And yeah, I'm sure Vince McMahon is totally going to be in Florida every Wednesday.

Time to pretend the sky is falling because "Vince McMahon wahhhhhhh".

I don't give a fuck about this supposed war.....I just want to know how this affects my viewing of the show. I don't get USA, I'm sure alot of other people who don't live in the States don't use the channel....so where's that leave us?

 

[Vegeta]

Such a war they're using their brand that while being supposedly popular was a money loss....now they get ad revenue which is even more money for them.

And yeah, I'm sure Vince McMahon is totally going to be in Florida every Wednesday.

Time to pretend the sky is falling because "Vince McMahon wahhhhhhh".

I don't give a fuck about this supposed war.....I just want to know how this affects my viewing of the show. I don't get USA, I'm sure alot of other people who don't live in the States don't use the channel....so where's that leave us?

Thursday at 8 it will be on the Network.

As far as the rest of it well I’m not going to get into it. Because you are going to not care either way.

 

[Deezy]

I don't like streaming.....I liked what I had from my satellite provider.

 

[Vegeta]

I don't like streaming.....I liked what I had from my satellite provider.

Wait did NXT already come on TV I’m Canada or something?

 

[Bobby Barrows]

I'm not surprised, it's a pretty hefty move for them since SmackDown's moving to FOX.

 

[Deezy]

Wait did NXT already come on TV I’m Canada or something?

First year it did....stopped after getting Mainevent because reasons.

Had to do with other countries not getting NXT on their big networks and getting butt hurt.....so much fuckery

 

[Sabretooth]

Yeah regardless of whether or not there's a war, WWE are doing this cause the tv deal will make them a fuck ton of money. If NXT was operating at a loss then they had to go on this direction. The war is secondary. And I still don't see how in gods name AEW is going to be competition for WWE. It's not really much of a war.

 

[Deezy]

According to a source that spoke with Dave Meltzer, the move to USA comes with a rights fee. Said to be somewhere around $50mil (on the down-side). Take it with a grain of salt. But the stock has reacted favorably to this news, up nearly 3.25% as of noon eastern (compared to the S&P 500 which is down approx -0.25%). The WWE stock is up almost $10 from the level it traded at a week ago.

Given WWE guidance of FY revenue, this estimate would represent nearly 5% annualized revenue increase that may not have been planned for during forecasting 2019. Of course the revenue will not all be in 2019, but doesn’t appear terms of the deal are officially out. From an outsiders view, whatever the miss was on the UK deal, this seems to have made up for at least in part. This is going to carry Q3 earnings I would think, given there is no Saudi show to boost the quarter. As an investor - this is great news.

In simple terms:
if WWE was guiding to FY 2019 revenue of $1bn, and this deal brings them annualized revenue of $50mil, this would be 5% of the $1bn. Assuming there was no plan to move NXT to Cable (and getting a rights deal on it), that would be a 5% increase in estimated annualized revenue.

 

[Dale]

I've been waiting for this move for a long time, way before any of this AEW stuff happened. Looking forward to it.

 

[Sabretooth]

Damn should've bought WWE stock a week ago lol

 

[Deezy]

Weren't they floating the idea of NXT being the 3rd hour of Raw long before AEW became a thing?

And wasn't it this very brand that was used to go up against the Superbowl halftime show?

 

[Deezy]

Damn should've bought WWE stock a week ago lol

I keep kicking myself for not jumping in when the stock was at an all time low in 2014.....if I bought just $100 share....I'd be in the six figures right now.