WWE To Shop 'Raw,' 'SmackDown'

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The WWE will look to shop its popular Monday Night Raw and Smackdown franchises to other distributors as its exclusive negotiating window with NBCUniversal has closed without a renewal.

The WWE's deal with USA Network to distribute the Monday Night Raw and Syfy for SmackDown series expires in September, according to WWE officials. 

The WWE has been negotiating exclusively with the NBCUniversal-owned series since January, but the window expired on Feb. 15.

WWE released the following statement on Tuesday: "WWE's exclusive negotiating period with NBCU for our flagship television programs, Raw and SmackDown, has now expired. While we were unable to reach an agreement with NBCU during this period, we have certainly appreciated our long and productive partnership."

Go to Multichannel.com for the full story.

R. Thomas Umstead
R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.