NBC Sacrificing Ratings To Keep WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event Exclusive To Peacock

NBCUniversal made a major play to keep WWE fans locked into their Peacock subscriptions—by taking Saturday Night’s Main Event off network television altogether. Instead of airing on NBC where it could pull strong ratings, the event will now stream exclusively on Peacock.

Dave Meltzer explained on Wrestling Observer Radio that the move was all about protecting streaming subscriber numbers, even if it meant sacrificing exposure on traditional TV.

“Peacock is trying very hard not to lose its WWE subscribers, so that’s why they’re doing the Saturday Night’s Main Event as an exclusive.”

Meltzer broke down NBC’s strategy behind the scenes, noting that they deliberately picked nights with weak TV competition to run WWE, avoiding dates where bigger sports events might clash.

“They would run Saturday Night’s Main Events on Saturday nights where they had nothing that was going to do any business. If there was something big, they’d move WWE to another week. WWE was programming for a number on a night where NBC had no good games.”

The impact of this shift will be especially clear on December 13, when John Cena wrestles what’s expected to be his retirement match—exclusively on Peacock. If the bout aired on NBC, it could’ve drawn massive mainstream interest. But Meltzer made it clear: past TV numbers just didn’t justify that.

“If their ratings were through the roof for NBC, they wouldn’t have done this [exclusivity switch]. The people who are arguing that the Goldberg thing with WCW drew a bad rating that hurt them? There’s probably something to that. Because if that rating was through the roof, I don’t think they make this decision.”

From a financial standpoint, WWE isn’t losing out. Meltzer said the money from Saturday Night’s Main Event was rolled into the larger SmackDown rights package, so WWE still gets paid—just not with the same reach.

“The Saturday Night’s Main Event money basically came from the SmackDown money… it was part of the deal. So they’re still going to be getting SmackDown on Friday nights on USA, but they are taking… WWE is losing. John Cena’s retirement show will certainly do significantly less viewers than it would have otherwise. But that was part of the deal.”

NBCUniversal’s gamble is clear: prioritize long-term subscriber retention over short-term TV ratings. Whether that pays off for WWE and its fans remains to be seen.

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