Its their loss. Other than Raw and MXC there is nothing worth watching on Spike.

RAW has been on the decline for years and the WWE is in trouble...I blame it on "WCW-sickness": too many wrestler, too many shows, not enough headline wrestlers...it was so predictable that this would be the fate when WCW merged with WWF and the shows split wrestlers...like Thunder did in the late 90's -- there were too many damn wrestlers.....Of course USA channel will get it back

I'm glad... maybe they'll put that money elsewhere and get more programming. It has been kinda lackluster lately with Maximum Exposure, Cops, Real TV and whatever else and then you get MXC which is great. I'd rather see UFC or pretty much anything else besides WWE. I hope they get rid of Bond and Star Trek too.

I hope it returns to the USA network.

I remember the good ol days when Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan would do the 2 hr show on Mondays back in the 80's


USA Network is part of the NBC family and maybe they might put some wrestling during the fall on NBC on Sunday afternoons occasionally to counter the NFL.


NBC has no major sports so maybe wrestling could bring in some viewers.


Bring back Saturday Nights Main Event during the summer when SNL shows repeats!

Sorry to hear, but that's funny

Thanks. Guess they ran out of sensible names that had TNN as initials.

Hasn't most of their original progamming bombed? I know their highest rated shows must be CSI, wrestling, and maybe Star Trek. That Kelsey Grammar cartoon is no longer on, and I don't think Ren and Stimpy are either.

I think the lack of the WCW is what killed the WWE. Of course, wrestling has always been a cyclical market, but it took WCW's resurgence to get McMahon to innovate the WWF and get "edgy" characters like the rock and stone cold to revitalize his viewership. Now that he owns it all, and his son-in-law is champ (on one show), there's very little "edgy" about it.

Even below-par WWE would be a coup for most cable companies to get an exclusive agreement with, though, since there's a core viewership that will follow it anywhere.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...we_usa_network

WWE'S RAW Program Returns to USA Network

Mon Apr 4, 1:44 PM ET

By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN, AP Business Writer

STAMFORD, Conn. - World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. has reached a three-year agreement with NBC Universal Inc. that will return its "WWE Raw" cable program to USA Network in October, company officials said Monday.

The deal resolves a major issue for the Stamford-based producer of televised wrestling matches. "Raw," which is regularly among the most popular cable programs, needed to find a new home after Spike TV decided not to extend its contract with WWE that ends in September.

But WWE will lose about $13 million in net income, or $37 million in revenue, as a result of lost advertising under the new deal, the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

That works out to about 18 to 20 cents per share in lost profits, according to Dennis McAlpine, managing director of McAlpine Associates in Scarsdale, N.Y. and a WWE analyst. "That's a lot of money to make up," McAlpine said. "It's not as good a deal as it first looked."

The company did not offer a forecast for how the deal will affect earnings.

WWE chief executive Linda McMahon said the deal will allow the company to broaden its audience.

"We're very happy to be returning to USA Network, where we experienced some of our greatest successes, and to NBC, where we had tremendous success with our series of late-night specials, "Saturday Night Main Event," in the 1980s," she said.

WWE said USA will sell and retain all advertising in the programming. Under the existing agreement with Spike TV, WWE sells the majority of the advertising in its cable programs.

But WWE said the new deal offers benefits by being on a larger more established network, an arrangement that has proven successful in the past. The deal also will provide more exposure to a Spanish-speaking audience, said Gary Davis, a WWE spokesman.

Monday Night RAW aired on USA from 1993 until 2000, when it moved to Spike TV, a unit of Viacom Inc. NBC Universal is a unit of General Electric Co.

In addition to "Raw," USA will air a one-hour weekend "Raw"-branded program, and NBCU's Telemundo will air Spanish-language versions of "Raw." NBC will also air at least two yearly, 90-minute Saturday late night "Raw" specials.

"I'm thrilled to be back in business again with Vince and Linda McMahon," said Bonnie Hammer, president of USA Network. "I led the USA team that helped grow "Raw" into a true pop phenomenon, and it's great to welcome it home."

Spike officials have said its decision not to renew the contract came after several months of negotiations that failed to reach an agreement on the value of the programs.

Under the new agreement, NBC Universal has committed at least $8 million to promote on several platforms the launch of the programs on USA. McAlpine agreed that returning to USA Network could help WWE in the long term, but said the company still needs to replace wrestling stars it has lost in recent years to boost ratings that have been flat.

"Somehow it never worked on Spike. It didn't have the pizazz it had on USA Network. Maybe going home will give RAW and WWE more of that pizazz."

Shares of WWE rose 18 cents to $11.99 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange, near the lower end of their 52-week range of $11.15 to $15.44.

This will be Heat.

Goodbye "Experience" and goodbye "Velocity"

The question I have is, where does all this leave SmackDown? Is Viacom (UPN's parent company) ending that deal as well?

I can't see why Experience will disapeear, but Velocity's future isn't looking bright.

D

Wow, new Saturday Night wrestling specials on a major network! Shades of the past...

That deal doesn't expire until Sept 2006. Its expected that Smackdown will leave UPN then and go to USA Network to air on Thursday nights.

As for "Velocity", I think the WWE will eventually announce they will keep the show. You need a show for the wrestlers on the Smackdown brand who don't get a chance to wrestle on the main show every week. You don't need "Experience" (which is basically just the "Bottom Line" and "Afterburn" shows combined) so why not move "Velocity" in the "Experience" spot come fall. (Maybe have a WWE second show DH with "Velocity" as the lead-in for "Heat" on Sunday evenings?)