By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE issued the following press release on Wednesday to announce their new television deal in Italy.
MILAN & STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– WWE (NYSE: WWE) and Discovery today announced a new multi-year agreement in Italy beginning Wednesday, July 1 that will make WWE’s weekly flagship programming available exclusively live and on-demand with original U.S. commentary on DPlay PLUS, the OTT premium pay service of Discovery, along with versions featuring Italian commentary on DMAX (Channel 52).
Every week, Dplay PLUS will exclusively air Monday Night Raw®and Friday Night SmackDown® live, captivating fans with a unique combination of edge-of-your-seat action, unpredictable drama and world-class athleticism. NXT®will be available on-demand via Dplay PLUS every Thursday morning.
WWE fans can also enjoy Raw, SmackDown and NXT with Italian commentary by Luca FranchiniandMichele Posa on Discovery’s free-to-air channel, DMAX. A two-hour version of Raw will premiere on Mondays starting July 13 at 11:15 pm and re-run at 10:30 am on Saturdays; SmackDown will air at 11:15 pm on Tuesdays and re-run at 10:30 am on Sundays; NXT will air at 12:30 pm on Saturdays and re-run at 9:30 am on Sundays.
WWE programming will launch on Dplay PLUS on Wednesday, July 1 with the latest episode of Raw available on-demand from Wednesday, July 1 and SmackDown available from Saturday, July 4 straight after airing live in the US.
“We are thrilled to embark on a new chapter for WWE in Italy as we bring our unique blend of action-packed, family-friendly sports entertainment to Discovery’s free-to-air and premium channels,” said Stefan Kastenmüller, WWE Senior Vice President & Group General Manager. “We are excited that our relationship with Discovery is enhancing the fan experience in Italy with both primetime and family-friendly timeslots.”
“We are pleased to announce this agreement with WWE, which is of strategic importance for our group, and will allow us to offer our audience a unique and innovative content proposition: premium content on Dplay PLUS at a very competitive price and WWE highlights on free-to-air on DMAX,” said Alessandro Araimo, Managing Director Discovery Italy. “WWE has conquered a very wide audience and we are confident that our channels and platforms can help to further expand the very large Italian fanbase.”
Raw, SmackDown and NXT with Italian commentary will also be available on-demand via Dplay. WWE’s two popular weekly recap series, Bottom Line and Afterburn, will be available with original commentary from Dplay PLUS.
The agreement with WWE will make the Dplay PLUS premium content offer even more exclusive with the platform subscription price unchanged at 3.99 euros per month, and at the same time, enriching the free-to-air offer of DMAX, which is already the home of rugby and esports.
WWE’s monthly pay-per-view events, including WrestleMania® and SummerSlam®, will stream exclusively on WWE Network in Italy.
Powell’s POV: WWE is currently available on Sky Italy, so it appears the new deal means WWE will no longer air on that platform beginning July 1.
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