Māori Television, a free-to-air broadcaster in New Zealand, has agreed a rights deal with US wrestling organisation WWE.
Māori Television will broadcast flagship WWE programs Raw and SmackDown on free-to-air television both in English and Māori.
The deal, the length of which was not disclosed, marks the first time that free-to-air WWE programming will be available in New Zealand.
The partnership begins on February 24. A one-hour version of Raw will broadcast every Saturday in English and Māori, with a SmackDown show to be aired every Sunday in both languages. The Te Reo channel will broadcast a Māori version of Raw every Monday.
Māori Television will also broadcast WWE highlight shows WWE Experience at 7.30pm and This Week at 11.10pm on Fridays. All programming will also be available via www.maoritelevision.com.
“Māori Television is thrilled to embark on this new relationship with WWE, a leading global entertainment company as we set to further engage new audiences with Māori,” Mike Rehu, head of content for Māori Television, said.
“All Māori Television WWE content will feature New Zealand’s indigenous language as a component and we have engaged with some of the finest Māori experts in the land to weave reo and tikanga into all platforms of broadcasts.”