WWE Network Streaming Rights Purchased By NBCUniversal, Service Headed to Peacock
The WWE Network will now be housed under Peacock following NBCUniversal obtaining the U.S. streaming rights of the popular service.
Per Variety, “WWE and NBCU reached a multiyear agreement giving Peacock exclusive streaming rights to WWE Network for American viewers. The over-the-top wrestling entertainment service’s existing U.S. subscribers (about 1.1 million in total) will be migrated over to Peacock Premium, where they’ll continue to get access to WWE Network but will pay 50% less per month while getting full access to the version of the Peacock Premium tier with ads.”
While the exact cost of this new partnership was not disclosed by NBCUniversal or WWE, Sports Business Daily is reporting this new five-year deal is worth just north of $1 billion.
WWE Network will launch under Peacock on March 18. At that time, Peacock will feature over 17,000 hours of “new, original, and library programming” content and will also launch a special 24-hour channel on the service.
Additionally, Peacock will host all of WWE’s monthly live events/PPVs, including WrestleMania, a feature that made WWE Network so appealing upon its initial launch. The first WWE event to stream live under Peacock will be Fastlane, which is taking place Sunday, March 21.
As for a cost breakdown, Variety notes, “WWE Network will be available on Peacock Premium (which includes ads) for $4.99 per month, half the price of WWE Network’s current $9.99/month pricing. The no-commercials Peacock Premium Plus plan, which costs $9.99/month, also will include WWE Network.”
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