Backstage Update on WWE Network Employees’ Reaction to Peacock Deal, Rollout on Content

– During today’s episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer discussed the recently announced multi-year agreement that will make NBCUniversal’s Peacock service the exclusive home of the WWE Network in the US for the next five years. He also addressed WWE Network employees being concerned and not even knowing about the deal until it was publicly announced.

Meltzer said that WWE Network employees weren’t told anything about the NBCUniversal pact, and many of them were asking around about the deal. The Network workers reportedly found out about the deal at the same time the general public did when the deal was announced. Meltzer continued that all the international market versions of the Network will remain “exactly the same.” Currently, the Peacock deal for the WWE Network is exclusive to the US.

Additionally, Meltzer noted that WWE President Nick Khan was the one who negotiated the deal for WWE and informed everyone that this was the deal he made. As noted, the new deal is valued at $1 billion for WWE over the course of five years.

With regards to NBCUniversal possibly cherry-picking or how much content will be brought over, Meltzer stated he was told by a source that “everything” from the WWE Network will move over to the Peacock service on March 18, which includes more than 17,000 hours of content, rather than a staggered or slower rollout. However, Meltzer speculated he wasn’t sure if the rollout of the library will be immediate on the March 18 date.

WWE Network’s migration to Peacock starts on March 18. WWE Fastlane will be the first live pay-per-view event that will stream on Peacock on Sunday, March 21.