wrestling / News

WWE Agrees to Expanded TV Partnership in India

September 12, 2014 | Posted by Larry Csonka

– WWE has agreed to a new deal with Ten Sports in India. The new deal keeps WWE on TV there through 2019, and was considered by WWE to be one of the major deals they wanted locked in as soon as possible. The new deal will see Raw, Smackdown, NXT and PPVs continue to air along with a special “new one-hour fully customized version of Raw tailored specifically for the Indian audience”. WWE Main Event will also be added, and the company will run live events there for the first time in 2015. Here is the official press release.

NEW DELHI & STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– WWE (NYSE: WWE) and Ten Sports have extended their television distribution agreement for five more years through 2019 while growing their partnership beyond WWE’s weekly flagship programming to include localized content, more languages and live events.

In addition to the continued broadcasts of WWE’s flagship programs Raw®, SmackDown®, NXT™ and monthly pay-per-view specials, starting January 1, 2015, Ten Sports will introduce a new one-hour fully customized version of Raw tailored specifically for the Indian audience and add WWE Main Event™ to its programming lineup. Ten Sports will also air WWE content in multiple Indian languages for the first time and bring WWE live events back to India in 2015.

Rajesh Sethi, CEO, Ten Sports said, “We are very excited to extend our long-standing, successful partnership with WWE for the Indian Subcontinent. WWE is the leader in sports entertainment, and its high-quality entertainment is a huge hit among Indian audiences. Being rights holders since 2002, we have seen WWE grow over the years to dominate the sports entertainment space, and with this new deal through 2019, we are confident of taking our partnership to the next level, delivering audiences more breakthrough programming and engagement opportunities in the years to come.”

“India remains a strategically important market for WWE and we are thrilled to continue our long-term partnership with Ten Sports, the region’s leader in sports programming,” said Gerrit Meier, WWE Executive Vice President, International. “As the value of the WWE brand and our content continues to increase around the world, the scale and scope of this new agreement illustrates our ability to drive a passionate and engaged audience as well as the potential we have for future growth.”

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Larry Csonka