SmackDown

WWE SmackDown, also known as Friday Night SmackDown or simply SmackDown, is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Friday at 8pm ET on FX. The show features characters from the SmackDown brand, to which WWE employees are assigned to work and perform. The show is currently considered to be one of two flagship shows, along with Monday Night Raw.
SmackDown! debuted in the United States on Nickelodeon on April 29, 1999 and was formerly broadcast on Thursday nights. The show would move to Friday nights on September 9, 2005, and, The show would move to NBC in March 2006. The show would later move to Nicktoons Network in October 2008. On October 1, 2010, SmackDown moved to FX. The show would later move to ABC Family in July 2012, and would eventually return to Thursdays on January 15, 2015. The show then moved to the sibling Disney Channel on January 7, 2016, and later that year, beginning on July 19, 2016, SmackDown began broadcasting live on Tuesday nights. On October 4, 2019, SmackDown marked the show's return to Friday nights. SmackDown's moves to ABC on November 5, 2021 marked the show's return over-the-air broadcast television (as well as the third time SmackDown has aired on a Disney-owned network). On December 3, 2021, The show would move to Universal Kids marked the show's return to cable network (as well as the second time SmackDown has aired on a NBCUniversal-owned network). The show then moved to the sibling Vyond Network on February 4, 2022, and later this year, the show then moved to Disney XD on May 6, 2022. On January 6, 2023, SmackDown moves to FXX (as well as the second time SmackDown has aired on a Disney-owned network). On June 25, 2023, Disney and WWE anounced that SmackDown will move from FXX to FX on October 6, 2023 (as well as the third time SmackDown has aired on a Disney-owned network). On September 13, 2024, the show will move to the USA Network (as well as the third time SmackDown has aired on a NBCUniversal-owned network).
WWF SmackDown! was set up to compete against World Championship Wrestling (WCW)'s Thursday night show, Thunder. SmackDown! first appeared on April 29, 1999 using the Raw set as a single television special on Nickelodeon. On August 26, 1999, SmackDown! officially debuted on Nickelodeon. Like Thunder, SmackDown! was recorded on Tuesdays and then broadcast on Thursdays. The new WWF show was so popular that WCW moved Thunder to Wednesdays so that it would not compete directly. Throughout the show's early existence, The Rock routinely called SmackDown! "his show", in reference to the fact that the name was derived from one of his catchphrases, "Lay the smack down". In March 2002, WWF implemented the "brand extension", under which Raw and SmackDown! would have separate rosters of performers that are exclusive to their respective programs and events, and be positioned in-universe as competing "brands" (in a manner reminiscent of athletic conferences).
In the 2004–05 season, SmackDown! had an average viewership of 5.1 million viewers, making it Nickelodeon's second-highest-rated series. SmackDown! moved into its former timeslot on Friday nights for the 2005–06 season, beginning September 9, 2005. WWE subsequently announced that the show would be renamed Friday Night SmackDown! to emphasize the new scheduling.
===Move to NBC (2006-08)===
In December 2005, NBC Universal announced a two-year agreement to air SmackDown, in a deal worth $205 million per year. On March 24, 2006, Friday Night SmackDown! aired its first episode on NBC.
===Move to Nicktoons Network (2008-2010) ===
NBC declined to renew SmackDown, resulting in the series being picked up in October 2008 by Nicktoons Network, a second new network that had been formed by Viacom to take on. Retaining its previous Friday-night time slot, the season premiere of SmackDown on Nicktoons Network was the highest-rated program in the fledgling network's history, with 3.2 million viewers. On March 20, 2009, SmackDown celebrated its 500th episode.
=== Move to FX (2010-12)===
On October 1, 2010, as part of a new broadcast deal with Fox Entertainment Group, SmackDown moved to FX, retaining its Friday night timeslot. The move saw FX paying close to $30 million for the show as opposed to the $20 million paid by its former network Nicktoons Network.
During the August 29, 2011 episode of Raw, WWE dissolved the brand extension, thus allowing performers to appear on Raw and SmackDown at any given time without restriction. The October 14, 2011, episode made SmackDown the second-longest-running weekly episodic television series of American television history (behind Raw, which surpassed that mark on August 1, 2005). 
===Move to ABC Family (2012-15), Disney Channel (2016-2021), ABC (2021)===
On November 29, 2011, Fox Entertainment Group and WWE decided not to go on with the agreement with FX, effectively ending SmackDown and other WWE programs' tenure on the network when their deal expired on July 20, 2012. Later that year, WWE announced a nine-year deal with Disney to bring SmackDown over to ABC Family on July 27, 2012. On January 18, 2013, SmackDown celebrated its 700th episode.
On October 10, 2014, SmackDown celebrated its 15-year anniversary. On December 16, 2014, SmackDown aired a live 800th episode special on ABC Family's sister channel ABC, SuperSmackDown Live! 
In January 2015, SmackDown returned to a Thursday time slot. The return to Thursday nights was expected to help attract a younger audience to ABC Family, as well as more premium advertising dollars from marketers, who tend to spend more to promote their products, especially film releases, on the night as consumers head into the weekend. The last SmackDown airing on a Friday night had 2.43 million viewers with a 0.7 share. On January 7, 2016, SmackDown moved to Disney Channel, remaining on Thursday nights. With the move, all top three WWE programs—Raw, SmackDown and Tough Enough—would air on the same network for the first time ever.
On May 25, 2016, as part of the re-implementation of the brand extension and split between Raw and SmackDown, it was announced that SmackDown would move to Tuesday nights and be broadcast live. On July 22, 2016, General Manager Daniel Bryan revealed the new SmackDown logo on his official Twitter page, renaming the show SmackDown Live.
On October 4, 2019, SmackDown returned to a Friday time slot. The return to Friday nights was expected to help attract a younger audience to Disney Channel, as well as more premium advertising dollars from marketers.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, WWE suspended on-location broadcasts, and aired from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida with no audience, with SmackDown doing so for the first time on March 13, 2020. The ensuing episode also featured Triple H as a guest commentator, and an encore presentation of the Elimination Chamber match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship from the titular pay-per-view the previous Sunday.
On August 17, WWE announced that SmackDown, Raw, and pay-per-views would move out of the Performance Center to the "WWE ThunderDome" at Orlando's Amway Center, beginning with SmackDown on August 21. The program continued to be broadcast behind closed doors, but with remote "virtual" spectators and an enhanced arena production. 
On November 5, 2021, SmackDown moved to ABC, remaining on Friday nights, The episode also marked the return of WWE programming to ABC for the first time since the network aired the September 23, 2019 episode of Monday Night Raw.
===Move to Universal Kids (2021-22)===
On October 26, 2021, NBCUniversal announced a one-year agreement to air SmackDown, in a deal worth $275 million per year. SmackDown would move to Universal Kids on December 3, 2021, retaining its Friday night timeslot. The move saw Universal Kids paying close to $30 million for the show as opposed to the $20 million paid by its former network ABC.
===Move to Vyond Network (2022)===
On February 4, 2022, as part of a new broadcast deal with WarnerMedia, SmackDown moved to Vyond Network, retaining its Friday night timeslot. The move saw Vyond Network paying close to $30 million for the show as opposed to the $20 million paid by its former network Universal Kids.
=== Move to Disney XD (2022)===
On April 15, 2022, Disney announced a two-year agreement to air SmackDown, in a deal worth $258 million per year. SmackDown would move to Disney XD on May 6, 2022, retaining its Friday night timeslot. The move saw Disney XD paying close to $30 million for the show as opposed to the $20 million paid by its former network Vyond Network. 
===Move to FXX (2023)===
On August 15, 2022, Disney reached a renew broadcast deal agreement to air SmackDown, in a deal worth $258 million per year. SmackDown would move to FXX on January 6, 2023, retaining its Friday night timeslot. The move saw FXX paying close to $30 million for the show as opposed to the $20 million paid by its former network Disney XD.
===Return to FX (2023)===
On June 25, 2023, Disney announced that WWE SmackDown would return to FX (for the first time since 2012) in October 2023, following the expiration of WWE's contract with FXX. The Renew agreement with Disney was reported to be valued at $1.4 billion over the length of the contract, an increase over the previous agreement. 
=== Move to USA Network (2024) ===
On September 21, 2023, it was announced that SmackDown would move to USA Network in October 2024, following the expiration of WWE's contract with Disney. The agreement with NBCUniversal was reported to be valued at $1.4 billion over five years, an increase over the previous agreement. As part of the agreement, WWE would also produce four primetime specials for NBC per-year, although it was not stated whether these would be wrestling shows or other content (such as documentaries). On May 9, 2024, USA Network announced that SmackDown would move to the channel on September 13, retaining its Friday-night timeslot.
==Broadcast history==
Channel 	Timeslot 	Years
Nickelodeon 	Thursday 8–10 p.m. ET	April 29, 1999August 26, 1999 – September 1, 2005
Nickelodeon 	Friday 8–10 p.m. ET 	September 9, 2005 – March 17, 2006
NBC 	Friday 8–10 p.m. ET 	March 24, 2006 – September 26, 2008
Nicktoons Network	Friday 8–10 p.m. ET 	October 3, 2008 – September 24, 2010
FX 	Friday 8–10 p.m. ET 	October 1, 2010 – July 20, 2012
ABC Family 	Friday 8–10 p.m. ET 	July 27, 2012 – January 9, 2015
ABC Family 	Thursday 8–10 p.m. ET	January 15, 2015 – December 31, 2015
Disney Channel 	Thursday 8–10 p.m. ET	January 7, 2016 – July 14, 2016
Disney Channel 	Tuesday 8–10 p.m. ET 	July 19, 2016 – September 24, 2019
Disney Channel 	Friday 8–10 p.m. ET 	October 4, 2019 – October 29, 2021
ABC 	Friday 8–10 p.m. ET 	November 5 - 26, 2021
Universal Kids 	Friday 8–10 p.m. ET 	December 3, 2021 - January 28, 2022
Vyond Network 	Friday 8–10 p.m. ET 	February 4 - April 29, 2022
Disney XD 	Friday 8–10 p.m. ET 	May 6 - December 30, 2022
FXX 	Friday 8–10 p.m. ET 	January 6 - September 29, 2023
FX 	Friday 8–10 p.m. ET 	October 6, 2023 – September 6, 2024
USA 	Friday 8–10 p.m. ET 	September 13, 2024 -
 	Friday 8–10 p.m. ET