WWE, Twitch Announce Multi-Year Partnership Featuring Alternate ‘Monday Night Raw’ Broadcast Starting Tonight
The long-suffering WWE/Twitch saga has come to an end, as the two companies agreed to terms on a multi-year extension. Not only will individual Superstar Twitch channels return, but a main WWE channel will also debut with new live and exclusive content.
Kicking things off will be an alternate broadcast for the June 5 edition of “Monday Night RAW,” bringing the WWE Universe behind the scenes and closer to the in-ring action. The weekly viewing experience will be led by a rotating cast of hosts and will regularly feature appearances by WWE Superstars, unique and exclusive content such as backstage interviews, and more. Viewers can stream the sidecast live every Monday beginning at 8 p.m. ET via twitch.tv/wwe or the Twitch app.
The official WWE channel will also be home to other live productions and will serve as an alternate live-streaming feed for all of WWE’s premium live event press conferences. There’s been no word yet if WWE will use its Twitch channels in a similar fashion to Impact Wrestling, which airs archive content for most of the day, then switches to live programming during certain windows. WWE certainly has a healthy archive full of classic wrestling matches, but streaming it on Twitch may conflict with the sports entertainment company’s deal with NBCUniversal streamer Peacock.
The service is the home of all of the WWE’s premium events in the United States as well as a library full of decades worth of broadcasts from the promotion. However, with the WWE and NBCU’s deal coming up soon, WWE may work something into its next agreement that allows the company to stream certain legacy content on Twitch while maintaining the WWE Network on Peacock or its next streaming home.
After the WWE was purchased by UFC parent company Endeavor in April, there have been a lot of conversations over where the preeminent brand in professional wrestling will land in the coming years. The company currently broadcasts “Smackdown” on Fox and “RAW” on USA Network, which is also owned by NBCU.
However, UFC has a very successful partnership with ESPN and all of the company’s pay-per-view events are available for purchase on ESPN+. Now that Endeavor owns both combat sports brands, it is certainly possible that the WWE follows Ultimate Fighting to the Worldwide Leader in Sports.
While that is still a few years away, at this point, more importantly for the Superstars and their fans, this marks the return of WWE Superstar Twitch channels. Many Superstars like Xavier Woods and AJ Styles enjoy playing video games or otherwise chatting with fans in a personal environment. Now, WWE Superstars have the ability to use their Twitch channels to engage with fans however they would like.
Peacock
Peacock is a subscription video streaming service from NBCUniversal that includes original shows, blockbuster movies, and classic television series. Peacock is home to “Yellowstone,” and “The Office,” as well as original hits like “Poker Face” and “Bel-Air.” You can also watch live sports including NFL, MLB, WWE, Olympics, Premier League, NASCAR, French Open, College Football and Basketball, and PGA Tour. Premium Plus subscribers can stream their local NBC feed in all 210 markets.