USA NETWORK TO PREMIERE LIVE WRESTLEMANIA KICKOFF SHOW ON SUNDAY, APRIL 3
-- Special SMACKDOWN with Live Segments from AT&T Stadium to Air Thursday, March 31 and WWE HALL OF FAME Special to Premiere Thursday, April 7 --
NEW YORK - March 18, 2016 - For the first time ever, USA Network, the exclusive cable home to WWE's marquee properties, announces expanded access to WRESTLEMANIA, WWE's biggest event of the year. Between March 31 and April 7, the network will feature multiple events, including a live, one-hour broadcast of the official WRESTLEMANIA KICKOFF SHOW, a special SMACKDOWN episode with live segments, the one-hour WWE HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY, and a movie marathon celebrating Dwayne "The Rock(R)" Johnson.
On Thursday, March 31 from 8-10PM ET/PT, SMACKDOWN will feature live segments from AT&T Stadium just days before WRESTLEMANIA 32.
On Sunday, April 3, USA's live hour of the WRESTLEMANIA KICKOFF SHOW will start at 6PM ET/3PM PT and include the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, featuring 20 WWE Superstars. WRESTLEMANIA 32 will broadcast live from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. And leading in and out of the live kickoff show, USA Network will celebrate with a movie marathon featuring WWE homegrown star Dwayne "The Rock(R)" Johnson, with films including The Rundown, Faster, Fast Five and GI Joe Retaliation.
The night after, on Monday, April 4, an all-new WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW will feature the fallout from the action of WRESTLEMANIA 32.
Then on Thursday, April 7 at 10PM ET/PT, immediately following SMACKDOWN, USA will broadcast the one-hour 2016 WWE HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY special. WWE Legends including Sting, Big Boss Man and The Fabulous Freebirds will be immortalized for their accomplishments and contributions to sports entertainment in this year's WWE Hall of Fame class.
In 2016, USA Network became the exclusive cable home to WWE's marquee properties, offering fans the live WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW for three hours every week (8-11PM ET/PT) and SMACKDOWN on Thursdays from 8-10PM ET/PT. In 2016 to date, MONDAY NIGHT RAW is averaging 4.09MM total viewers, 1.91MM P25-54 and 1.87MM P18-49 L7 and SMACKDOWN on USA is averaging 2.82MM P2+, 1.23MM P25-54, and 1.15MM P18-49+ L7, making USA the #1 cable entertainment network across the key demos on Monday and Thursday nights. In 2015, the two programs reached 50MM viewers.
About USA Network:
USA Network, the leader in cable entertainment, offers a powerful stable of dramatic, comedic and unscripted originals in more than 102 million U.S. homes. The network also features spectacular live television, a dynamic portfolio of acquired series and the best in blockbuster theatrical films and entertainment events. A trailblazer in digital innovation and storytelling, USA is defining, driving and setting the industry standard for Social TV. USA is a program service of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, a division of NBCUniversal. USA's award-winning website is located at http://www.usanetwork.com. Watch USA Network anywhere: On Demand, online or across mobile and connected TVs.
About WWE
WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE programming reaches more than 650 million homes worldwide in 25 languages. WWE Network, the first-ever 24/7 over-the-top premium network that includes all live pay-per-views, scheduled programming and a massive video-on-demand library, is currently available in more than 180 countries. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Dubai, Munich and Tokyo.
Additional information on WWE (NYSE: WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to http://www.wwe.com/worldwide/.
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Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks relating to: WWE Network; major distribution agreements; our need to continue to develop creative and entertaining programs and events; the possibility of a decline in the popularity of our brand of sports entertainment; the continued importance of key performers and the services of Vincent K. McMahon; possible adverse changes in the regulatory atmosphere and related private sector initiatives; the highly competitive, rapidly changing and increasingly fragmented nature of the markets in which we operate and greater financial resources or marketplace presence of many of our competitors; uncertainties associated with international markets; our difficulty or inability to promote and conduct our live events and/or other businesses if we do not comply with applicable regulations; our dependence on our intellectual property rights, our need to protect those rights, and the risks of our infringement of others' intellectual property rights; the complexity of our rights agreements across distribution mechanisms and geographical areas; potential substantial liability in the event of accidents or injuries occurring during our physically demanding events including, without limitation, claims relating to CTE; large public events as well as travel to and from such events; our feature film business; our expansion into new or complementary businesses and/or strategic investments; our computer systems and online operations; a possible decline in general economic conditions and disruption in financial markets; our accounts receivable; our revolving credit facility; litigation; our potential failure to meet market expectations for our financial performance, which could adversely affect our stock; Vincent K. McMahon exercises control over our affairs, and his interests may conflict with the holders of our Class A common stock; a substantial number of shares are eligible for sale by the McMahons and the sale, or the perception of possible sales, of those shares could lower our stock price; and the relatively small public "float" of our Class A common stock. In addition, our dividend is dependent on a number of factors, including, among other things, our liquidity and historical and projected cash flow, strategic plan (including alternative uses of capital), our financial results and condition, contractual and legal restrictions on the payment of dividends (including under our revolving credit facility), general economic and competitive conditions and such other factors as our Board of Directors may consider relevant. Forward-looking statements made by the Company speak only as of the date made and are subject to change without any obligation on the part of the Company to update or revise them. Undue reliance should not be placed on these statements. For more information about risks and uncertainties associated with the Company's business, please refer to the "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Risk Factors" sections of the Company's SEC filings, including, but not limited to, our annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.
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