The Associated Press took a look at WWE TV ahead of tonight’s SmackDown FOX premiere and the 20th anniversary celebration from Los Angeles.
FOX Sports President Eric Shanks spoke with The AP for the piece and said SmackDown has potential to do big things for Friday night TV.
“It has the potential to rejuvenate Friday nights,” Shanks said.
Triple H was also interviewed. He said FOX is looking to help WWE increase the value of SmackDown, and make it something more. He also said we will see changes right away.
“I think the opportunity to go to a broadcast platform with partners like Fox that not only want to take what you do and embrace it, but help you to make it something more, increases the value,” Triple H said. “You’ll see changes right away.”
Triple H downplayed the drop in WWE TV ratings that we’ve seen over the past several years.
“I think any show that has been on the air as long as RAW and SmackDown have, you’re going to have moments in time where things ebb and flow,” Triple H said. “When you look back over it, you hope that as you look back 10 years from now, you go, ‘oh, there was a little dip there but it wasn’t for long and they corrected course and got right.'”
It was noted how FOX has publicly been nonplussed about the drop in viewership. Shanks pointed to how WWE will now have the FOX promotional machine behind them, and they expect viewership to increase after this week.
“They haven’t had the programming and awareness that they will have on Fox,” Shanks said. “We’re hoping it will grow after the anniversary show.”
The piece noted how how WWE has leaned on Hall of Famers like Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan as of late, perhaps as a way to get the lapsed fan, and how RAW and SmackDown are expected to have their own rosters moving forward. Triple H commented on how they want to put stars out that people are engaged with.
“You want to put on something for everybody,” Triple H said. “You want to put out stars that people remember, that people are engaged with right now. You want to put something of, this guy’s going to be a star in a year or two.”
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