What Fox – WWE Smackdown deal means for Lethal Weapon, The Gifted, more

For everyone out there upset over Fox canceling Lucifer (and for good reason), we would advise you to be prepared for many more possible cancellations in the future. Whether it be Lethal Weapon, The Gifted, The Resident, or other series, we imagine that many programs are going to be in greater danger because of a new deal for WWE Smackdown. This, in turn, means less hours for original programming every week.

Here’s the good news — per The Wrap, Fox’s new acquisition of the longtime wrestling staple is going to include it shifting to Friday nights. That means, at least for now, that some of the shows listed above will be safe. Probably the big loser in all of this, if the schedule stays the same, is Gordon Ramsay given all of the various shows of his that air on Friday nights. This is a deal that is going to displace some programming and, depending how Fox chooses to handle their lineup, could lead to Ramsay shifting over to another night while other shows go the way of the dodo.

So why is Fox bringing on board so much event programming and sports? Part of the reason for this could be the upcoming Disney acquisition, which would move most of its studio over to the House of Mouse. Following that, Fox the network won’t have nearly as much ownership into some of its television properties and without a studio, these shows aren’t anywhere near as profitable. Be prepared to see the network scale back and focus in on some other ventures as a result of that. We can’t say that it is altogether surprising given the current state of networks wanting ownership, but it is absolutely a little bit sad.

Fox’s broadcasts of Smackdown are going to be kicking off at some point in late 2019, so don’t anticipate this having any sort of huge impact on this current season.

What do you think about this Fox – Smackdown deal, especially in terms of how it could impact other shows? Be sure to share right now in the attached comments!

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