Sky Italia extends WWE coverage

Italian pay-television broadcaster Sky Italia has renewed a rights deal with the WWE wrestling entertainment organisation.

The deal will run for five years, from 2015-16 to 2019-20.

Sky will continue to show the organisation’s flagship programming, including WWE Raw, SmackDown, NXT, WWE Experience and WWE Main Event.

Cielo, Sky’s free-to-air channel that is available in more than 24 million homes in Italy, will broadcast one-hour versions of WWE Raw and SmackDown weekly on Sundays at 10.00am and 11.00am, respectively.

All 12 WWE live, pay-per-view specials, including WrestleMania and SummerSlam, will continue to be available on the Sky Prima Fila service.

Sky, which has shown WWE in Italy since 2003, regards the property as one of its crown jewels, delivering higher ratings than golf, rugby and NBA basketball programming.