ViacomCBS secures UK’s first free-to-air highlights of the sport
Wrestling highlights are coming to free-to-air in the UK for the first time after WWE secured a partnership with Channel 5 owner ViacomCBS.
From February, C5 will air a one-hour version of the Raw programme on Sunday mornings at 10:30am, with SmackDown highlights will be broadcast in the same slot on Saturdays.
The programmes will be available on My5, along with WWE reality TV series Total Divas and Miz and Mrs, both of which will air on Viacom-CBS owned Pluto TV.
“Bringing highlights of our flagship programming to free-to-air television for the first time in the UK with Channel 5 is a significant step for the WWE brand,” said WWE UK and Ireland general manager Andy Warkman.
Earlier this month, WWE launched on BT Sport, having previously screening on Sky Sports for almost three decades. Under the deal, BT Sports airs SmackDown, Raw, NXT and NXT UK exclusively live every week.
“WWE has strong appeal throughout the UK and across generations,” said C5 commerical, digital and operations chief James Tatam.
“We’re very excited to be bringing their high-quality entertainment to an even bigger free-to-air audience in the UK.”
Elsewhere, Paramount will be airing NXT UK every Wednesday at mid-day.