One of the biggest complaints of many professional wrestling fans is that much of WWE’s most popular programming isn’t widely available on mobile devices.
That criticism, however, is getting body slammed this week by a new multi-year partnership announced between World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. and YouTube. As a result, full episodes of WWE “Friday Night SmackDown®,” “WWE NXT™,” “WWE Superstars” and “ECW®,” will be available at WWE’s official YouTube channel.
Not only is this news significant for sports entertainment fans, it’s also a monumental first step for YouTube. The deal with WWE represents the first time that YouTube will feature complete episodes of primetime television programs on the video sharing site.
“WWE has established itself as one of the top global entertainment brands in the world,” said Chris Maxcy, strategic partner director at YouTube. “WWE’s content is hugely popular on YouTube. Bringing in full-length, primetime television programs to the site is a huge win for our community and fans of the WWE.”
“As part of our ever evolving digital media strategy, WWE is one of the first global entertainment companies to offer audiences access to complete primetime shows on YouTube,” added Brian Kalinowski, WWE’s Executive Vice President, WWE Interactive. “This partnership also enables WWE to increase its official PG-content offerings online for our fans, generate revenue, protect our content and broaden our brand exposure on the world’s largest online video site.”
