Back to today’s briefing

Story perspectives

WWE NXT Premium Live Events Move Exclusively to The CW

4/28/2026

24 5 Full Breakdown

Summary

NXT Moves to CW

WWE and The CW announced April 28, 2026 that NXT Premium Live Events will air exclusively on The CW, beginning with The Great American Bash in summer.
The deal covers 20 live NXT events and builds on NXT broadcast under agreement signed in October 2024.
Brad Schwartz said the arrangement gives fans a single broadcast home for NXT while Shawn Michaels praised The CW for raising profile of up-and-coming Superstars.

Summary

CW Adds NXT

The CW added WWE NXT Premium Live Events to its live-sports slate, aiming to boost its Tuesday night lineup and draw a younger audience.
NXT averaged 612,000 viewers and a 0.09 rating in the 18-49 demographic on Tuesday nights in 2026, giving the CW concrete ratings data for planning.
The shift from Peacock and a brief YouTube period to CW linear TV provides advertisers inventory during live NXT broadcasts.

History

Historical Context

After Vince McMahon and USA Network’s Kay Koplovitz secured the 1995 Raw-USA deal, WWE now repeats that model with the 2026 CW-NXT agreement announced by Brad Schwartz and endorsed by Shawn Michaels. The new linear slot aims to draw younger fans and, according to Nielsen, could add a 0.09 rating boost to Tuesday nights.

1 of 3

NXT Moves to CW

WWE and The CW announced April 28, 2026 that NXT Premium Live Events will air exclusively on The CW, beginning with The Great American Bash in summer.
The deal covers 20 live NXT events and builds on NXT broadcast under agreement signed in October 2024.
Brad Schwartz said the arrangement gives fans a single broadcast home for NXT while Shawn Michaels praised The CW for raising profile of up-and-coming Superstars.

1 / 3