The WWE Network recently transferred over to its new home of the NBC streaming service Peacock in the US giving wrestling fans a first look at the new offering.
In January WWE and NBC Universal – the company that owns the USA Network which shows Raw and NXT – announced a deal for rights to the WWE Network. The $1 billion agreement sees the WWE Network content migrate to the Peacock streaming service in the United States. Subscribers to the WWE Network can continue to use it until April 6th when the handover will be completed. This means WrestleMania on the 10th and 11th of April will only be available on Peacock in the US.
Sports Illustrated has reported on some of the early features of the new look WWE content on Peacock. Finding both positives and negatives about the move for fans.
Available for $9.99 or $4.99
Peacock is available for $9.99 – the same price as the WWE Network, giving wrestling fans a broader entertainment offering for the same price. For $4.99 an ad-supported version of Peacock is available. Some fans on social media have noted that adverts have occurred in the middle of matches. WWE content is not available on the free version of Peacock.
As of yet, the archives have not fully been transferred over. Meaning fans of classic wrestling may be waiting a while before their favourite matches are available again. However, WWE has stated that they expect the full archive of content to be available by SummerSlam in August.
Fans of WWE have taken to social media to provide a running update on what shows are and are not available. Twitter user @kingmotivatorh provided the first running commentary on which events could be watched on Peacock.
SI also note that WWE fans will lament the loss of the ‘skip to match’ feature available during shows. For now, fans will have to manually fast forward and rewind to find particular matches on shows.
Viewers in the rest of the world remain unaffected by the switch over and can continue finding all their usual content on the WWE Network.