A lot of noise has been made online over the past two days concerning SmackDown’s future on UPN. I was intending of doing a News Fix tonight, which I will most likely end up doing sooner, but I figured until I do that, I’ll let you all know what the situation is.
The story was broken online the other day by many Internet news-reporters, but Mike Johnson’s post at PWInsider.com seemed to reflect best what was going on at the time. For this purpose, I will paste what he posted on the situation…
The UPN Network plans to drop WWE Smackdown from its roster of shows when their contract with World Wrestling Entertainment expires next year, according to statements made by Viacom’s co-President in an article published by California newspaper The Oakland Tribune earlier this week discussing UPN’s future plans.
The statement, made by Leslie Moonves, co-President and co-Chief Operating Officer for Viacom, the parent company of UPN and CBS. Moonves and Tom Freston took over the positions in June 2004, when former President Mel Karmazin resigned the post.
According to the article, which looks at plans to change UPN’s image into a more serious network, moving away from sillier fare like “Amish in the City.” According to Moonves, Smackdown no longer fits the network’s vision.
“It still makes us a decent amount of money,” said Moonves, “When you think about the powerhouses of CBS and NBC on Thursday night, it’s great counter-programming. (But) it doesn’t fit into the overall (programming) strategy.”
WWE and Viacom came to terms on a “multiyear deal” to continue broadcasting Smackdown via The UPN Network in March 2003. It is believed the deal expires in the fall of 2006. The arrangement provided for UPN to pay WWE a licensing fee and also allow the company to produce several primetime specials.
Smackdown debuted as a UPN special in April 1999, paving the way for the weekly series, which has been running since August of that year.
To read the complete article, click here.
If you click on the link above, you can read the full article that Johnson used as his source. While news reporters online were doing their job properly, and recapping what their source The Oakland Tribune writer Susan Young, was saying, Miss Young is actually the one who failed at her job. As it turns out, Leslie Moonves, co-President and co-Chief Operating Officer for Viacom, actually said that SmackDown may not be renewed once the current contract between WWE and Viacom ends in September of 2006. The newspaper has apologized for the error.
However, there’s a different story in the background of all this. Leslie Moonves is known to be a great businessman in the TV marketing industry, and a man of a strong word who never wastes his words. In the original interview with Young, he said that he doesn’t know when the SmackDown contract expires. Once reminded of the date (September, 2006) by the UPN president, also present at the interview, Moonves said with a negative tone that the cotnract may not be renewed, which lead to Young taking that as a 100% no.
The idea here is that UPN might be taken into a completely different direction, and wrestling may not be something they want on their network. Moonves was quoted “It still makes us a decent amount of money. When you think about the powerhouses of CBS and NBC on Thursday night, it’s great counter-programming. (But) it doesn’t fit into the overall (programming) strategy.”
Aware of the fact that WWE has been in talks with SpikeTV and the USA Network for a TV deal, Moonves most likely tried to get one-up on WWE, knowing that his words will make their way to the company. If you click on the link provided in the story from Mike Johnson above, you will notice that Young has changed her publication, so that the words “may not” are present, rather “not.” This had to be a very smart move by Leslie Moonves, who’s simply looking out for his network.
More news later today!
Eddie
