WWE announces new television agreement with Sky in New Zealand

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

WWE issued the following press release to announce its new television deal with Sky in New Zealand.

WWE (NYSE:WWE) and SKY will extend their partnership into its 19th year with a new agreement to continue broadcasting WWE programming live in New Zealand, including WWE’s flagship shows Raw® and SmackDown® as well as all of WWE’s live monthly special events, including WrestleMania®, SummerSlam®, Survivor Series® and Royal Rumble®.

SKY 5 will continue airing Raw live at 2 p.m. on Tuesdays with re-airs at 1:30 p.m. on Sundays, SmackDown live at 2 p.m. on Wednesdays with re-airs at 4:15 p.m. on Sundays, and Main Event®, a one-hour in-ring show featuring Raw Superstars at 6 p.m. on Sundays. These shows will also be available for catch-up viewing on SKY On Demand.

Additionally, Prime, SKY’s free-to-air channel, will televise one-hour versions of Raw and SmackDown on Fridays beginning in 2019. Fans can order all of WWE’s live monthly special events on SKY pay-per-view channel, SKY Arena.

“SKY shares our vision and passion for engaging and entertaining our fans, and we are proud to extend our long-standing partnership with them,” said Michelle Wilson, WWE Co-President. “This agreement allows us to continue showcasing our unique blend of action-packed, family friendly entertainment live in New Zealand.”

“For almost 20 years we’ve given passionate WWE fans in New Zealand the ability to watch their favourite Superstars and we’re thrilled to extend this relationship,” said Rachel Thomson, SKY’s Manager of General Entertainment Channels. “With our live coverage, fans won’t miss a minute of Raw and SmackDown each week, and they also have the option of watching WWE’s exciting live monthly specials on SKY Arena. We are also pleased to offer WWE content to more Kiwiswith condensed versions of Raw and SmackDown on our free-to-air channel, Prime.”

Powell’s POV: This is fantastic news for Jermaine, Bret, and Murray.

Check below for the new Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast with Jason Powell and guest Konnan, who discusses his return to the ring for MLW and shares the crazy story of how he started in pro wrestling.