{"id":20621,"date":"2016-05-25T08:52:58","date_gmt":"2016-05-25T13:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=20621"},"modified":"2016-05-26T01:26:42","modified_gmt":"2016-05-26T06:26:42","slug":"wwe-smackdown-going-live-tuesdays-july-19-distinct-roster-wrestlers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2016\/05\/25\/wwe-smackdown-going-live-tuesdays-july-19-distinct-roster-wrestlers\/","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING &#8211; Smackdown going live on Tuesdays with distinct roster"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-3385231652\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>WWE officially announced Wednesday\u00a0morning that Smackdown is going to be live starting July 19 and have a distinct roster of wrestlers.<\/p>\n<p>That could mean a totally separate roster, or a majority of exclusives but with some overlap (perhaps a few very top stars, such as John Cena, or perhaps the World Champions &#8211; men&#8217;s, women&#8217;s, and tag team).<\/p>\n<p>Notably, WWE said about Smackdown and Raw &#8211; &#8220;each show featuring a distinct cast, unique storylines, and a dedicated writing team.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The following is the press release, with more analysis to follow here at PWTorch.com&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2016\/05\/25\/keller-instant-analysis-big-smackdown-announcement-new-brand-split-great-wwe-fans\/\">KELLER&#8217;S INSTANT TAKE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>===<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b><i>SMACKDOWN<\/i> GOING LIVE ON USA NETWORK BEGINNING\u00a0<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><b>TUESDAY, JULY 19<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>&#8212; SMACKDOWN to Feature Distinct Roster and Storylines <\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><b>&#8212; Conspiracy Thriller \u2018<i>SHOOTER<\/i>\u2019 to Premiere Immediately Following\u00a0<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><b>SMACKDOWN on July 19 at 10\/9c &#8212;<\/b><\/span><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1566076864\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">NEW YORK and STAMFORD, CONN \u2013 May 25, 2016 &#8212; USA Network, the exclusive cable home to WWE\u2019s marquee properties, announced that its weekly <b>SMACKDOWN<\/b> show will air live \u2013 for the first time ever \u2013 and move to Tuesdays every week beginning July 19 from 8-10PM ET\/PT. With the <b>SMACKDOWN<\/b> move, USA Network will now offer five hours of live WWE programming a week, including the weekly three-hour live <b>WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW <\/b>(airing Mondays from 8-11PM ET\/PT), with each show featuring a distinct cast, unique storylines and a dedicated writing team.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">In 2016 to date, <b>MONDAY NIGHT RAW<\/b> is averaging 4.011MM total viewers, 1.873MM P25-54 and 1.846MM P18-49 L7, and <b>SMACKDOWN<\/b> in its current time slot is averaging 2.674MM P2+, 1.136MM P25-54, and 1.058MM P18-49+ L7, making USA the #1 cable entertainment network across the key demos on Monday and Thursday nights. In 2015, the two programs combined reached over 50MM viewers. \u00a0Both shows will now air live 52 weeks a year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cThe fan base for our WWE shows is one of the most passionate and engaged audiences in all of entertainment,\u201d said Chris McCumber, President, Entertainment Networks, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. \u00a0\u201cThere is a huge appetite among our viewers for live programming, and the ability to move <b>SMACKDOWN<\/b> to a live format brings a new level of excitement and helps truly eventize this every week.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">&#8220;WWE&#8217;s flagship programs will both leverage the incredible depth of our talent roster, distinct storylines and the unpredictable nature of live TV,&#8221; said WWE Chairman &amp; CEO Vince McMahon. \u201cThis move will undoubtedly build more excitement and deepen engagement with our fans around the world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p7\"><span class=\"s1\">With 874 original episodes, <b>SMACKDOWN<\/b> is the second longest-running weekly episodic program in U.S. television history, only behind <b>MONDAY NIGHT RAW <\/b>at 1,200 episodes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Beginning July 19, immediately following <b>SMACKDOWN<\/b>, USA Network will premiere the new original drama <b>SHOOTER<\/b>, starring Ryan Phillippe (\u201cSecrets and Lies\u201d), at 10\/9c.\u00a0 <b>SHOOTER<\/b> is based on the best-selling Bob Lee Swagger novel by Stephen Hunter, <i>Point of Impact<\/i>, and the 2007 Paramount film starring Mark Wahlberg. The series follows the courageous journey of Swagger, a highly-decorated ex-marine sniper who is coaxed back into action after he learns about a plot to kill the President. Mark Wahlberg (\u201cBoardwalk Empire,\u201d \u201cEntourage\u201d) of Closest to the Hole Productions serves as executive producer along with Stephen Levinson (\u201cBoardwalk Empire,\u201d \u201cBallers\u201d) of Leverage Entertainment; Lorenzo di Bonaventura (\u201cTransformers,\u201d \u201cThe Real O\u2019Neals\u201d) and John Hlavin (\u201cThe Shield\u201d). The series is a co-production between Paramount Television and Universal Cable Productions.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-3754990011\"><div id=\"pwtor-3232563374\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>WWE officially announced Wednesday\u00a0morning that Smackdown is going to be live starting July 19 and have a distinct roster of wrestlers. That could mean a totally separate roster, or a majority of exclusives but with <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2016\/05\/25\/wwe-smackdown-going-live-tuesdays-july-19-distinct-roster-wrestlers\/\" title=\"BREAKING &#8211; Smackdown going live on Tuesdays with distinct roster\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2873,1394,72,2872,113],"class_list":["post-20621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news_wwe","tag-brand-split","tag-live-smackdown","tag-smackdown","tag-smackdown-live","tag-usa-network"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/SDlogo_3x2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20621"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20636,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20621\/revisions\/20636"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}