NBCUniversal’s Peacock is soon the only place to see WWE Network in the US
WWE and NBCU have reached a multi-year agreement that grants Peacock exclusive streaming rights to the WWE Network for US viewers. The US subscribers (approximately 1.1 million in total) of the leading wrestling entertainment service will be transferred to Peacock Premium, where they will still have access to WWE Network but will pay 50% less per month while gaining full access. to the version of the Peacock Premium series with ads.
Peacock will launch WWE Network on March 18, 2021, when Peacock will begin more than 17,000 hours of new, original and library programming from WWE Network (both on demand and on a new 24-hour channel).
The NBCU Streamer will have all WWE live events – at no extra cost – including WrestleMania and SummerSlam. Fastlane is the first event to stream at Peacock on Sunday, March 21 (WWE fans who prefer to order events via traditional pay-per-view option will still have the option.)
WWE Network is available on Peacock Premium (which includes ads) for $ 4.99 per month, half the price of WWE Network’s current price of $ 9.99 / month. The ad-free Peacock Premium Plus plan, which costs $ 9.99 a month, also includes WWE Network.
The companies plan to provide information over the next few weeks on how existing WWE Network subscribers in the US will switch to Peacock (e.g. whether they will be automatically subscribed to Peacock). Nothing will change for WWE Network subscribers outside the US
Financial terms of the Peacock WWE Network Pact have not been disclosed. “We feel great about the finances. Otherwise we would not have done the deal, ”said Nick Khan, WWE’s president and chief revenue officer, who joined the company from CAA last year. “To have WrestleMania in particular – which is our Super Bowl – available [for no extra cost] on Peacock is completely different from other models you see. ”
For Peacock, the WWE network is a ‘transformative addition’, says Rick Cordella, Peacock’s EPP and chief revenue officer. “We have a lot of data that shows live events and that sports are gaining a lot of users,” he said. ‘The bet is that there is a much larger number of available audiences [for WWE programming] than what is on WWE Network today. ”
NBCU and WWE have been partners for almost 30 years, starting in 1993 with ‘Monday Night Raw’ across the US. “WWE has always used the cultural spirit of the time with spectacular live events and characters that are bigger than life, and we are delighted to be the exclusive home for WWE Network and its millions of fans across the country,” Cordella said.
In the third quarter of 2020, WWE Network averaged 1.6 million paid subscribers, down about 60,000 from the previous quarter, but a 6% increase over the previous year – this is the first annual growth of the service since the first quarter of 2019. WWE Network in February 2014, when it ended its traditional pay-per-view event.
From 2022, WWE will annually produce ‘one documentary documentary signature’ for the WWE network on Peacock. About 100 hours of original series such as ‘Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions’, ‘Undertaker: The Last Ride’ and the recent premiere ‘WWE Icons’ are also available on WWE Network. in-ring shows like NXT, NXT UK and WWE 205 Live, as well as reruns of “Raw” and “SmackDown”; WWE network archives, including every WWE, WCW and ECW pay-per-view event in history; and documentaries including “WWE 24”, “WWE Untold” and “WWE 365.”
Peacock, which launched NBCU nationwide in July 2020, has attracted nearly 22 million “sign-ups” for users, according to the company. Qualifying customers of Comcast Xfinity X1 and Flex and Cox’s Contour – a total of approximately 24 million households – receive Peacock Premium at no extra cost.
Peacock’s table of contents contains a series of original articles, libraries of TV shows – including all episodes of ‘The Office’ and ‘Yellowstone’ – and films from Universal Pictures, Focus Features, DreamWorks Animation, Illumination and other studios. In addition, the OTT service offers news, sports, late night, Spanish and reality from across NBCUniversal.
Peacock Premium now offers more than 47,000 hours of programming. NBCU also offers a free, ad-supported version of Peacock with a cut-off bucket of content.
Pictured above: WWE Superstar Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 36