Peacock pins down exclusive US streaming rights to WWE Network

Peacock, the video streaming service from US national network NBC and its parent company Comcast, is to become the sole home in the country to WWE Network, the wrestling promotion's digital platform.

The five-year deal between NBCUniversal and WWE was announced today, and is understood to be worth in excess of $1 billion.

It comes in the wake of Comcast's plans to shut down cable offering NBC Sports Network by the end of this year as its focus shifts to digital consumption.

WWE Network's existing US subscribers, of which there are around 1.1 million, will be migrated over to Peacock Premium, where they will continue to get access to WWE Network but will pay $4.99 per month, 50 per cent less than they pay at present.

Ad-free access to Peacock Premier Plus will cost $9.99 per month.

Rick Cordella, chief revenue officer of Peacock, said: "NBCUniversal has a long-standing relationship with WWE that began nearly 30 years ago with Monday Night Raw on USA. WWE has always tapped into the cultural zeitgeist with spectacular live events and larger-than-life characters, and we are thrilled to be the exclusive home for WWE Network and its millions of fans across the country.

"WWE Network is a transformative addition to the platform and complements Peacock's massive catalogue of iconic movies and shows, as well as the best live news and sports, from NBCUniversal and beyond."

Nick Khan, WWE president and CRO, added: "Peacock is an innovative platform that will enable us to showcase our most significant events, including WrestleMania, and provide the extraordinary entertainment our fans have come to expect with the combination of premium WWE content, live sports, news, films, and television programmes."

Peacock will launch WWE Network on 18 March, beginning the roll-out of more than 17,000 hours of new, original, and library WWE Network programming on demand and on a 24/7 channel, including: all live pay-per-view events including WrestleMania and SummerSlam (Fastlane will be the first WWE pay-per-view to stream on Peacock on 21 March); original series and documentaries; in-ring shows like NXT, NXT UK and WWE 205 Live, as well as replays of Raw and SmackDown; and WWE Network archives, including every pay-per-view event in history.

Beginning next year, Peacock will stream one signature WWE documentary annually.