WWE Smackdown will, as previously stated, move to the USA Network in 2024. Meanwhile, Brandon Thurston tweeted the following about Smackdown on FOX:
“Want to run an ad during Smackdown? It’ll cost you about $51,077, according to AdAge. Up 8% from about $47,119 last year. Smackdown is second only to ABC’s Shark Tank among Friday night broadcast shows, despite routinely beating Shark Tank in P18-49.”
“Implies about a $65 CPM (based on 789k P18-49 average last 365 days) which is a lot higher than I’d have guessed. How much does Smackdown generate in ad revenue then? Figure 20 units per hour, 40 units per show = about $2M per episode. Fox is paying WWE about $4M per episode, a lot more than Fox covers in ad sales, which is common with sports and universal for wrestling shows. Carriage fees and marketing value are part of the justification too. Whatever the math was for Fox, they obviously calculated they were better off doing something else with Friday nights starting next year this time.”
Implies about a $65 CPM (based on 789k P18-49 average last 365 days) which is a lot higher than I'd have guessed.
How much does Smackdown generate in ad revenue then? Figure 20 units per hour, 40 units per show = about $2M per episode. Fox is paying WWE about $4M per episode, a…
— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) October 31, 2023
