News on Smackdown Airing on West Coast After Next Year's Move to FOX

— With Smackdown Live set to move to Friday nights on FOX, there was a question on whether it would run in the 5-7 PM or 8-10 PM Pacific timeslot. If FOX decides to go with the 5-7 slot, it would lead to “less complaints” but the the 8-10 slot would likely yield better ratings. The earlier spot would also mean that the local 5 and 6pm newscasts would have to be pushed back to 7 PM every Friday, something that would already be happening on Thursdays with with the NFL. However, while local stations would be willing to move the news for a highly rated football game, it’s unclear if they would want to make the same concession for a wrestling show.

— The Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes that based on the impression that FOX has given, they will run Smackdown live on the West Coast since they consider the show as “sports” rather than “entertainment” and they want to run all their sporting programs live.