Big changes are coming to WWE’s UK broadcast partner, BT Sport, which will see Raw and SmackDown aired on TNT.
Both BT Sport and Eurosport will disappear from UK screens in July and be rebranded as TNT Sport. The news comes after the telecoms operator BT merged with media giant Warner Bros. Discovery last summer. Last year the two companies joined forces to launch a joint venture pay-TV sports business.
The merger in May 2021, worth £633 million promised to bring the sports output as one single brand. The managing director of WBD Sports Europe, Andrew Georgiou, spoke on the rebranding announcement stating:
“Today is another important step towards the launch of a simpler and even more compelling offering for sports fans in the UK & Ireland.
The TNT Sports name is already synonymous with premium live sports in a number of countries around the world and a further sign of the global scale and expertise that WBD brings to the partnership with BT.”
The CEO of BT consumer division and chairman of the joint venture with Warner Brothers Discovery, Marc Allera, said:
“We’re delighted with the progress being made on the joint venture. This change marks the next logical step for BT Sport as well as the broader transformation of our Consumer business. Once launched this will become a hugely exciting new premium sports offering for customers in the UK and Ireland.”
WWE Began Airing On BT Sport In 2019
BT Sport launched in 2013 and became the fastest-growing pay-TV service in the UK. In 2019 the service announced it would air WWE. The agreement ended the promotion’s relationship with Sky Sports that dated back to the network’s launch in 1989.
Prior to the TNT Sport rebrand, UK customers will still be able to watch Monday Night Raw, Friday Night SmackDown and NXT the same way they do now. However, in July Discovery+ will become the new streaming destination for TNT Sports, while linear channels will stay in the same place under the new brand.
Subscribers to BT’s sports channel already have complimentary access to Discovery+, which also includes Eurosport’s streaming offer and entertainment programming.
TNT Sports is already in use by Warner Bros. Discovery across the US. The brand has the rights to NBA, NHL and NCAA.