WWE to cut RAW & SMACKDOWN from Australia...

[Guest Respect The 'Taker]

WWFDownunder.com recently posted that Smackdown will be pulled from Australian television as FOX8 here in Oz, have not renewed their contract.

 

But WHY? Thats what all the Aussie WWE fans screamed..well..read on..

 

Foxtel Further Respond

 

Oli Young from 'Smackdown Your Protest' spoke to Brian Walsh, Director of Television at Foxtel asking for his support and guidance in the Smackdown situation. Brian spoke with Oli for around 15 minutes about the situation.

 

Brian wanted to get over that Foxtel wants Smackdown on television and that this situation is not in their control any longer. This decision has been forced onto Foxtel and FOX8 by WWECorp, and to yield to WWECorp's demand would be commercially unsustainable in a company that financially has no where to move already. Succumbing to WWECorp's demands would also place Foxtel in a position to fall prey to the same practice from other distribution companies such as Paramount or Buena Vista.

 

He wanted us to know that it was Foxtel that stood behind the WWF during the late 90's when WCW was at it's height, and without Foxtel the phenomenal success of WWE Global Warning this year would not have been possible.

 

Brian re-iterated the situation as posted below, but expanded on a couple of items :

 

- WWECorp were asking for a 400% increase in the syndication fees for Smackdown, pushing the cost of a single episode of Smackdown above what Foxtel paid for Buffy.

 

- Fox Sports stands to loose WWE RAW on Tuesday nights should they too not agreed to the new contract.

 

WWE threatened that should Foxtel not agree to the new contract, that they would take their product (namely Smackdown) to a Free To Air network, Brian and I discussed commercial television's previous treatment of WWF/WWE and how that this threat made little to no sense

 

If Foxtel yielded to WWECorp, they would have no choice but to pass the costs onto us the subscribers, something that Foxtel is unwilling to do

 

Brian (and Foxtel) appear to be firmly behind our side of this argument, and have unfortunatly been forced to bear the brunt of the criticism.

 

 

FUCK YOU VINCE McMAHON, FUCK YOU TO HELL

[Guest HBK WILL ROT IN HELL]

I thought it must have been something like that thanks for the post

[Guest Down Below]

Well, this sucks.

 

Thank Benoit I still have my tape collection...

[Guest benoitrules2000]

Oh well, looks like i'll be ordering tapes of raw from now on!

 

I HOPE YOU FUCKING DIE A PAINFUL DEATH VINCE!!!

[Guest midnight_burn]

Bah, well this certainly isn't good news.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

Awww. And I wanted make a post like "you mean there's an audience for this in Australia? Do you mean the kangaroos and koalas watch?" but unfortuantely several people came in and proved that, yes, we do have people from Australia here.

 

Oh well. Stay tuned for next week when I make a post exploiting the stereotype that Canada is filled with nothing but snow and ice!

[Guest Respect The 'Taker]

Awww. And I wanted make a post like "you mean there's an audience for this in Australia? Do you mean the kangaroos and koalas watch?" but unfortuantely several people came in and proved that, yes, we do have people from Australia here.

 

Oh well. Stay tuned for next week when I make a post exploiting the stereotype that Canada is filled with nothing but snow and ice!

Dude...i AM a Kangaroo

[Guest Rob Edwards]

Damn I'd feel sorry for you Aussie's if you weren't about to thrash us in the ashes!

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

"- WWECorp were asking for a 400% increase in the syndication fees for Smackdown, pushing the cost of a single episode of Smackdown above what Foxtel paid for Buffy."

 

400%?!?! Makes sense to me.

 

We're the WWE, a company that's stuggling to make a profit. So we're going to take a potentially rich, utapped base of customers (the land down under) and say "you give us 4 times the amount of money we get in syndication fees or we walk."

 

Makes perfect sense to me.

 

I guess WWE's creative team also makes the company's business decisions...

[Guest the 1inch punch]

Id feel sorry for the aussies if i hadnt been born in new zealand

HAh

[Guest mach7]

- WWECorp were asking for a 400% increase in the syndication fees for Smackdown, pushing the cost of a single episode of Smackdown above what Foxtel paid for Buffy.

Vince is pretty touched in the head if he thinks his craptastic programming is even comparable in worth to B:TVS. ...and I'm not just saying this as a fan of Buffy, because I'm also a WWE fan. Compare the shows and the ratings and the revenues, etc....

[Guest Respect The 'Taker]

Agreed. Just look at the WWE product, maybe in 2000, i would have agreed Vince could charge more, because the product was on fire at the time, but NOW..it blows. Vince needs to realise that charging MORE isnt going to fix his financial woes, putting on a better show will do that.

 

Once again, a hardy FUCK YOU is directed from me, to Vince

 

Illusion - "Aussie Aussie ASSSHOLLLES!" - Scott Steiner

[Guest Trivia247]

I don't believe it is wise for the WWE in its present state should withdraw its states in Australia. They need all the exposure they can get globally. I suppose they need the money as well, but that doesn't mean closing a Market.

[Guest RenegadeX28]

Well, just like Stinky says in Hey Arnold...."This really bites...."

[Guest converge241]

what an idiot! doesnt Vince realize how much money they made off the last tour there?

 

I swear if you look up "shooting yourself in the foot" in the dictionary, there will be Vince McMahon, grapefruits an all