With the move of SmackDown from SyFy to USA in early 2016, there have been a lot of rumors about what changes might be in store for the former "blue brand".
In addition to the usual rumblings about increasing the importance of angles and matches on the show, there were the twin hopes that maybe it would become a live broadcast - which would almost certainly precipitate a move away from Thursdays. The show is currently taped on Tuesday nights before talent get a couple of days off/to travel to the location of the weekend's house shows.
But industry sources such as Advertising Age revealed that the Comcast/NBC Universal-owned network planned to use SmackDown as a lead-in to original shows that were scheduled for Thursday nights put a damper on those hopes, and a press release from USA today makes it official.
With the arrival of SMACKDOWN on Thursday, January 7 @ 8/7c, USA becomes the exclusive cable home to WWE's two marquee properties. Viewers can now bookend their week with MONDAY NIGHT RAW live on Mondays from 8-11p and SMACKDOWN on Thursdays from 8-10p. Consistently one of the highest-rated weekly series on cable, over the past 15 years SMACKDOWN has been broadcast from 170 different venues, in 148 cities and towns and in seven different countries including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Iraq, Japan, Italy and Mexico. On January 7, SMACKDOWN will air its 855th episode from Laredo, Texas.
The announcement doesn't explicitly rule out a live show, but going real-time on Thursdays would require a substantial change from the company's production schedule.
Does this make you any more or less excited for SmackDown on USA?