Smackdown officially staying on Thursdays; premiere date set

By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor


SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

WWE Smackdown will officially remain on Thursday nights when the show moves to USA Network.

The announced premiere date is Thursday, January 7. The final episode on Syfy will be New Year’s Eve, December 31.

As noted earlier this week, USA is planning to package Smackdown with new shows on Thursday nights. Smackdown will lead into “Colony” on January 14.

NOVEMBER 3 REPORT

According to USA Network president Chris McCumber, the plan for Smackdown is to remain on Thursday nights when WWE’s secondary show moves from Syfy to USA in January 2016.

That indicates either Smackdown will not be going live on USA, or WWE will re-work its production and taping schedule.

AdAge.com cited comments made by McCumber that USA plans to package Smackdown with a new series on Thursday nights.

In the first quarter, the plan is Smackdown at 8:00 p.m. and a USA original series “Colony” at 10:00 p.m. A new series/season will follow Smackdown each quarter.

“Colony” is set to premiere Thursday, January 14 on USA. An official start date for Smackdown on USA has not been announced.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply