Nick Khan Discusses ‘Viability’ Of NXT As ‘Third Brand’ In Media Rights Negotiations

WWE

WWE CEO Nick Khan has commented on the ‘viability’ of NXT standing alone as a third brand in the ongoing media rights negotiations.

In an article for the Hollywood Reporter, Khan was quoted as signaling that while WWE had previously taken a nod from the NBA when negotiating rights last time around, splitting WWE Monday Night Raw and SmackDown, he added an interesting point.

In discussing the ‘viability’ of NXT as a third brand for media rights negotiation purposes in lieu of considering it a ‘developmental brand’, Khan said:

“Initially, NXT was on WWE Network. And then when the pandemic hit, USA/NBCU needed content, we did not miss a week of production. … So we went with Tuesday nights NXT on USA from 8 to 10 p.m. Eastern time. NXT ratings are also trending up … so that is going in the right direction.”

“We think NXT has the viability to be its own standalone brand instead of just being a developmental system – a third brand, if you will, where you can see cross-over from our superstars on Raw and SmackDown to NXT while our young talent develops there. Once we get all of that situated, then we will look at other nights of the week to develop new content as well.”

Elsewhere, the article noted that Khan shared one staggering statistic about the number of people who identify as WWE fans.

You can click here to read more about that. 

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• media rights
• Nick Khan
• nxt
• wwe

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