WWE to Netflix, Network presumably doomed

[BomberPat]

Just now, MVP RULZ said:

So does this mean the show won't have to be 3 hours now?

They have a lot more flexibility with the running time not being set by a broadcasting channels schedule 

Maybe one week its only 2 hours 15 mins, maybe another week the show is slightly more loaded and it can be 2 hours 45 mins 

Unless Netflix have it in place it must be x amount of hours then I can't see why it would need to be a set running time everyweek when I'm also assuming they'll be no commercial breaks either

I expect there will be commercial breaks, because - for broadcasters - that's a huge part of the appeal of live TV, and Netflix is desperate for money. Netflix are already expanding their advertising options, and I wouldn't be surprised if RAW runs with ads even if you're not on the cheaper, "ad-supported" subscription, because it's a live show that sort of requires regular breaks, and I expect Netflix (and other broadcasters) will be thinking that viewers will be more likely to accept the presence of ad breaks in genuine live TV over as-live or on-demand content. 

It's a huge shift, but I think a bigger one for Netflix than WWE in the long-term.

[Infinity Land]

Just now, MVP RULZ said:

So does this mean the show won't have to be 3 hours now?

They have a lot more flexibility with the running time not being set by a broadcasting channels schedule 

Maybe one week its only 2 hours 15 mins, maybe another week the show is slightly more loaded and it can be 2 hours 45 mins 

Unless Netflix have it in place it must be x amount of hours then I can't see why it would need to be a set running time everyweek when I'm also assuming they'll be no commercial breaks either

Netflix has an ad supported tier these days, being live they'll have to build those breaks into the format. It will be similar to Peacock PLEs i'd reckon. 3hrs has been used a lot in the press releases and coverage. Just in reference to what it is now/has been, I don't see that changing.

[SpiritOfTheForest]

48 minutes ago, garynysmon said:

That said, as a Netflix subscriber anyway, I don’t exactly hate the idea of being able to watch 1985 episodes of TNT or Wrestlemania 8 at a click of the remote…

This is it for me. Don't give a toss about modern WWE - and indeed mainstream wrestling - and haven't since about 2014. However the idea of being able to watch the glory years of 1997-2001 on my current Netflix subscription without having to fork out for a separate Network account, is a very, very cool one. 

[JNLister]

Quote

Beginning in January 2025, Netflix will be the exclusive new home of Raw in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Latin America, among other territories, with additional countries and regions to be added over time. Likewise, as part of the agreement, Netflix will also become the home for all WWE shows and specials outside the U.S. as available, inclusive of Raw and WWE’s other weekly shows – SmackDown and NXT – as well as the company’s Premium Live Events, including WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Royal Rumble. WWE’s award-winning documentaries, original series and forthcoming projects will also be available on Netflix internationally beginning in 2025. 

To recap:

Raw in US going to Netflix. Smackdown to USA. NXT to the CW.

Rest of the World: All new programming, including all TV shows and 'PLE's going to Netflix. Network presumably dead. No word on the archive.

[SaitoRyo]

31 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

I expect the days of the Network as an archive of historical content is dead. The international versions of the app are already borderline unusable (not that Peacock's much better), and there's no mention of archives in the press release. I don't see Netflix caring either way - once upon a time, they'd have hoovered it up, and been happy to have the WWE legacy IP on-board, but now, when it's all about concentrated eyeballs on one show at the same time, are they really going to pay to host vast amounts of content on the off-chance that one person might watch an episode of WCW Saturday Night from 1997 every few months?

This whole thing is a canary in a coalmine for the death of the streaming model as first promised, as a vast store of all of our entertainment needs, as the big streaming companies will ultimately end up remodeling themselves into a worse version of linear TV, having already fucked that industry, driven countless people out of work, and left multiple shows with no available physical media versions because everybody bought the hype that we'd just have everything at our fingertips. It's the story of late stage capitalism across the board - what start as our grand visions from "disruptors" end up as constant corporate mergers, destroying what we had, and reinventing it back again, only with less regulation and less workers' rights.

Yup, it's all rather shit for people (like me) who basically just want to watch random stuff from time to time on the Network. 

As a silver lining, at least the move to Netflix will kill (some) of the wrestling ratings discourse!

[SaitoRyo]

Netflix will just cancel Raw after a couple of seasons and everything will go back to normal. No need to worry. 

[SuperBacon]

10 minutes ago, SaitoRyo said:

As a silver lining, at least the move to Netflix will kill (some) of the wrestling ratings discourse!

It won't, but we can dream.

[Doog]

I mean, the archive stil exists obviously and its all there, so you'd assume stuff thats all on the network won't disappear.

I don't really watch much current day stuff these days but I do go back and watch a lot of the archive stuff, currently working through 2002. So I'm hoping it either all ends up on Netflix like peacock in the US,  or they just keep it on the network.

If it just disappeared I'd be devastated

[The Gaffer]

Hoping Bezos has a sniff at Tony now and we get Rosamund Pike as women's champ. 

[Devon Malcolm]

There's no way Netflix aren't taking the archive as part of this deal. Last month they added about 100 1930s Swedish films to their catalogue. They have room.

[RedRooster]

Has there been any sort of indication as to what this will mean for the length of the show? Netflix obviously has tiers with adverts, but presumably there would be less of a need to keep Raw at 3-hours. 

[Harry Wiseau]

Might there be a possibility that things like RAW are put on the Network after a delay, similar to how  Raw and Smackdown end up there after 30 days currently? I remember that NXT was / is (?) put on the Network a day or so after it had been on TV  so might that be a possibility? For $5 billion it's unlikely i suppose. I haven't looked into it much as i'm at work and heard the story on Radio one so popped here to see what was being said so i don't know if that's been addressed. If the Network stays as just archive content how  old does something have to be to be classed as archive?

[JNLister]

24 minutes ago, SaitoRyo said:

Netflix will just cancel Raw after a couple of seasons and everything will go back to normal. No need to worry. 

Reportedly it's a 10 year deal, but Netflix has the right to cancel after 5 years, or to extend it to 20 years.

[69MeDon]

Might actually start watching WWE a bit if it's just on my Netflix account.

[SaitoRyo]

2 minutes ago, JNLister said:

Reportedly it's a 10 year deal, but Netflix has the right to cancel after 5 years, or to extend it to 20 years.

I was being facetious, but that is genuinely interesting about the 5 year thing.