The channel will be discontinued on all Canadian TV providers on December 31, 2024, due to WWE's new international distribution agreement with Netflix coming into effect the following day.
History and distribution
On July 31, 2014, Rogers Communications announced a ten-year agreement with WWE, making Rogers the exclusive distributor of WWE programming in Canada through 2024. In addition to Rogers' Sportsnet 360 retaining exclusive rights to WWE's weekly programming (excluding certain reality series aired at the time by E! and its Canadian counterpart), Rogers secured the Canadian distribution rights to WWE Network, a streaming service that had launched in the U.S. the preceding year which included live access to the promotion's monthly pay-per-view events.[1][2]
Rogers initially launched what it called a "preview" of WWE Network on August 12, 2014, using a dedicated channel within the existing Sportsnet PPV licence, similar to how Rogers initially distributed the Sportsnet World service.[1] The channel was initially offered on a subscription basis on Rogers Cable and, according to Rogers, had been offered to all other cable, satellite, and IPTV service providers across Canada.[2] Rogers has indicated that other providers had shown interest in carrying the channel, but that negotiations were ongoing and might "take some time".[3]
Rogers' agreement allowed it to control how the WWE Network would be distributed in Canada, and the company said it would not immediately make it available on an over-the-top (OTT) basis, requiring subscribers to go through a service provider such as Rogers. However, Rogers did not rule out making it available via OTT in the future.[1]
On November 26, 2014, the CRTC approved adding the WWE Network to the list of non-Canadian programming services authorized for distribution.[5] Rogers confirmed that the WWE Network service that it proposed to distribute in Canada would broadcast the same content as that broadcast by the WWE Network service in the United States and that the service would complement its other offerings, such as various sporting programs on Sportsnet 360 and live events on pay-per-view.
As of March 9, 2015, those who have subscribed to the WWE Network, via a cable or satellite provider, can now access it through the over-the-top streaming service;[8] this ability was slowly rolled out across providers. In late 2015 SaskTel began carrying the WWE Network.
In 2021, WWE began to phase out WWE Network by selling exclusive rights to its content to other streaming services on a per-country basis, including Peacock in the United States.[9] However, Rogers' contract remained in force, and on October 1 of that year, WWE Network became available as a standalone subscription in Canada through Rogers' Sportsnet Now over-the-top streaming platform, later renamed Sportsnet+.[10]
On January 23, 2024, WWE announced that the global rights to its weekly series Raw, and rights to all other programming (including content currently associated with the WWE Network) outside the U.S., would move to Netflix in stages starting the following year, with the Canadian rights to Raw confirmed as moving in January 2025—aligning with Rogers' contract having been previously announced as ending in 2024.[11][12][13]
In early September 2024, several Canadian TV service providers posted notices to their websites indicating that WWE Network would no longer be offered on their services after December 31, with one provider specifically citing a notice from Rogers Sports & Media that it would be ending distribution at that time.[14][15] This change was directly confirmed by Rogers later in the month.[16] The direct-to-consumer version offered through Sportsnet+ will also cease operation at the same time.[17]
While operating under the Sportsnet PPV licence, the WWE Network channel itself carried approximately 20 hours of programming each day, seven days a week, drawn directly from the U.S. streaming service's linear channel.[1] The subscription also included access to a video on demand library with a limited number of offerings, accessible via cable set-top box (somewhat similar to the former WWE Classics on Demand package), but did not initially provide access to the Internet-based on-demand library.[3]
Following the formal approval of WWE Network as an approved foreign channel, the linear channel's full 24-hour programming day was made available, and Canadian subscribers were eventually able to start accessing the streaming service online on the WWE website and app through provider-authenticated access. This access subsequently moved to the Sportsnet Now (later Sportsnet+) website and app.
^Rogers Media. "Are WWE pay-per-views included in Sportsnet+?". Sportsnet+ Support. Retrieved November 6, 2024. Please note that WWE content will no longer be available on Sportsnet as of January 1, 2025. The WWE Network x Sportsnet+ pass will no longer be available for purchase beginning December 2, 2024.
