WWE has announced a partnership with the Netherlands-based broadcasting company Talpa Network.
The deal will see Talpa broadcast one-hour editions of RAW and SmackDown back-to-back on Fridays beginning on April 16 at 11:45 p.m. CEST. Talpa-owned on-demand service KIJK will have RAW and SmackDown both available immediately following their LIVE broadcasts in the U.S.
Talpa will also secure pay-per-view rights through KIJK for both nights of WrestleMania 37 which will air LIVE on April 11 and April 12 in the Netherlands.
The company’s full statement on the deal can be found below:
STAMFORD, Conn., April 7, 2021 – WWE and Talpa Network today announced a new partnership to broadcast WWE’s weekly flagship programs Raw® and SmackDown®, and to offer WrestleMania as a live Pay-Per-View event for the first time in the Netherlands on April 11 and 12.
Beginning April 9, one-hour versions of Raw and SmackDown will be broadcast on the free-to-air channel Veronica on Friday evenings beginning at 11:45 pm (CEST). The full-length versions of Raw and SmackDown will be available to view on Talpa Network’s on-demand service KIJK, immediately following the U.S. broadcasts.
In addition to weekly programming, WWE’s two-night pop culture extravaganza, WrestleMania, will made available live on KIJK Pay-Per-View on April 11 and 12, emanating from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida.
“We are excited to bring our weekly flagship programming to Talpa Network along with our global pop culture extravaganza, WrestleMania,” said Andy Warkman, WWE VP, General Manager, Europe and Sub Saharan Africa. “This new partnership allows us to expand our reach and deliver our unique blend of action-packed, family friendly entertainment to WWE fans throughout the Netherlands.”
“We are very happy that this unique partnership enables us to broadcast WWE’s weekly flagship programs Raw® and SmackDown®, and offer WrestleMania as a live Pay-Per-View event to the Dutch audience on April 11 and 12. It’s an exciting and spectacular novelty in the Netherlands that hopefully leads to many happy fans and viewers on Veronica and KIJK,” said Bastiaan van Dalen, Head of Veronica.
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