WWE And SKY Extend Partnership In New Zealand

WWE issued the following press release, announcing that they have extended their partnership with SKY in New Zealand:

WWE and SKY Extend Long-Standing Partnership in New Zealand

12/17/2018

AUCKLAND, New Zealand and STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– WWE (NYSE:WWE) and SKY will extend their partnership into its 19th year with a new agreement to continue broadcasting WWE programming live in New Zealand, including WWE’s flagship shows Raw and SmackDown as well as all of WWE’s live monthly special events, including WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Survivor Series and Royal Rumble.

SKY 5 will continue airing Raw live at 2 p.m. on Tuesdays with re-airs at 1:30 p.m. on Sundays, SmackDown live at 2 p.m. on Wednesdays with re-airs at 4:15 p.m. on Sundays, and Main Event, a one-hour in-ring show featuring Raw Superstars at 6 p.m. on Sundays. These shows will also be available for catch-up viewing on SKY On Demand.

Additionally, Prime, SKY’s free-to-air channel, will televise one-hour versions of Raw and SmackDown on Fridays beginning in 2019. Fans can order all of WWE’s live monthly special events on SKY pay-per-view channel, SKY Arena.

“SKY shares our vision and passion for engaging and entertaining our fans, and we are proud to extend our long-standing partnership with them,” said Michelle Wilson, WWE Co-President. “This agreement allows us to continue showcasing our unique blend of action-packed, family friendly entertainment live in New Zealand.”

“For almost 20 years we’ve given passionate WWE fans in New Zealand the ability to watch their favourite Superstars and we’re thrilled to extend this relationship,” said Rachel Thomson, SKY’s Manager of General Entertainment Channels. “With our live coverage, fans won’t miss a minute of Raw and SmackDown each week, and they also have the option of watching WWE’s exciting live monthly specials on SKY Arena. We are also pleased to offer WWE content to more Kiwiswith condensed versions of Raw and SmackDown on our free-to-air channel, Prime.”

About WWE

WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The Company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE’s TV-PG, family-friendly programming can be seen in more than 800 million homes worldwide in 25 languages. WWE Network, the first-ever 24/7 over-the-top premium network that includes all live pay-per-views, scheduled programming and a massive video-on-demand library, is currently available in more than 180 countries. The Company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Shanghai,Singapore, Dubai, Munich and Tokyo.

Additional information on WWE (NYSE: WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to wwe.com/worldwide/

About SKY

SKY is the leading pay TV service for Kiwis. If you love sports, drama, music, movies, on-demand content and all-round great telly, then you’ll love SKY. With more than 115 channels, live streaming on SKY GO and a handy SKY Sport Highlights app, your journey into an incredible world of content starts here.

SKY On Demand gives you the freedom to watch what you want when you want at the touch of your remote. Internet connected SKY boxes offer a huge selection of shows, movies and box sets.

We also have our own free-to-air channel, Prime. Prime offers a viewing experience that’s unique in New Zealand. From local goodies to free-to-air sport and gripping drama, Prime is a popular choice for Kiwis looking for their daily fix of entertaining telly.

Outside of SKY we offer FAN PASS, which gives fans access to stream SKY Sport channels on a monthly or six monthly basis and NEON which delivers premium subscription-video-on-demand movies and entertainment.

Trademarks: All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.

Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks relating to: entering, maintaining and renewing major distribution agreements; WWE Network (including the risk that we are unable to attract, retain and renew subscribers); our need to continue to develop creative and entertaining programs and events; the possibility of a decline in the popularity of our brand of sports entertainment; the continued importance of key performers and the services of Vincent K. McMahon; possible adverse changes in the regulatory atmosphere and related private sector initiatives; the highly competitive, rapidly changing and increasingly fragmented nature of the markets in which we operate and greater financial resources or marketplace presence of many of our competitors; uncertainties associated with international markets; our difficulty or inability to promote and conduct our live events and/or other businesses if we do not comply with applicable regulations; our dependence on our intellectual property rights, our need to protect those rights, and the risks of our infringement of others’ intellectual property rights; the complexity of our rights agreements across distribution mechanisms and geographical areas; potential substantial liability in the event of accidents or injuries occurring during our physically demanding events including, without limitation, claims relating to CTE; large public events as well as travel to and from such events; our feature film business; our expansion into new or complementary businesses and/or strategic investments; our computer systems and online operations; privacy norms and regulations; a possible decline in general economic conditions and disruption in financial markets; our accounts receivable; our indebtedness; litigation; our potential failure to meet market expectations for our financial performance, which could adversely affect our stock; Vincent K. McMahon exercises control over our affairs, and his interests may conflict with the holders of our Class A common stock; a substantial number of shares are eligible for sale by the McMahons and the sale, or the perception of possible sales, of those shares could lower our stock price; and the relatively small public “float” of our Class A common stock. In addition, our dividend is dependent on a number of factors, including, among other things, our liquidity and historical and projected cash flow, strategic plan (including alternative uses of capital), our financial results and condition, contractual and legal restrictions on the payment of dividends (including under our revolving credit facility), general economic and competitive conditions and such other factors as our Board of Directors may consider relevant. Forward-looking statements made by the Company speak only as of the date made and are subject to change without any obligation on the part of the Company to update or revise them. Undue reliance should not be placed on these statements. For more information about risks and uncertainties associated with the Company’s business, please refer to the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors” sections of the Company’s SEC filings, including, but not limited to, our annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.

You can view the entire press release here.