Variety reports that from January 15, 2015, Syfy will move WWE SmackDown’s two-hour broadcast from Friday to Thursday nights, and will continue to air in its 8PM timeslot.
They hope the change will bring about two things – firstly, draw a younger audience to the show, and also to attract more premium marketers and as a result, advertising revenue. Executive VP of Syfy Michael Engleman said:
“Quite simply, more young men watch television on Thursday night than on Fridays. In fact, that tends to be 15% higher on Thursday than Friday during primetime hours among men 18-49. And with the majority of broadcast programming (skewing) female, we’re also using Thursday nights to counter program.”
WWE Chief revenue and marketing officer Michelle Wilson added:
“WWE’s sizable and passionate fan base make ‘SmackDown’ the No. 1 entertainment show on Syfy and the most-watched, regularly-scheduled program among key demographics on the network. We look forward to bringing the WWE audience to Thursday nights on Syfy.”
The move should come as no surprise to fans considering WWE inadvertently started promoting the new move on production trucks back in August. At the time, the company were coy on the move and relayed that no decision had been finalized and discussions were ongoing.
With the move confirmed, a promo reel has already been produced by WWE for SmackDown’s move to Thursday nights:
