Update on FOX Sports canceling WWE Backstage
It seems that something appears to be working against WWE talk shows which don't take place in the middle of the ring and end with a completely wrecked set and brawl. WWE Backstage now appears to be done for good. Amidst reports that Fox Sports is scaling back on the weekly production of WWE Backstage, it seems that the show could be done for good.
PW Insider has reported that WWE Backstage might not return at all and that it is done in its current format.
Fox Sports cancels WWE Backstage
According to a report from PW Insider, WWE Backstage could be done. The show's rating fell to below 200,000 viewers since it made its debut at the 11 PM EST timeslot on FOX Sports 1 and it was not uncommon for it to have less than 100,000 viewers.
CM Punk was brought on board to the show to help boost the ratings, but the numbers that they were reporting were not allowing the show to continue for much longer. This Tuesday's episode of WWE Backstage is set to be a rerun and there are no plans for any more shows, although the door is open for the future.
FOX Sports issued a statement on the issue as well, saying that they were announcing programming changes to address the needs of the business.
“Today, we announced programming changes designed to better address the needs of our business. As a result, some positions in our production department have been eliminated.”
Wrestling Observer Radio's Dave Meltzer has also commented on the issue saying that this was a part of budget-cutting and had nothing to do with the pandemic or WWE. FOX Sports has canceled their soccer, wrestling, and boxing shows based on the cost and the ratings that they were delivering.
"It was part of budget cutting. It has nothing to do with COVID. They cancelled their soccer show, boxing show and their wrestling show based on the cost versus the ratings it was delivering. They felt that it cost too much to do the shows and, they said that they may do some kind of a backstage episode in front of a big show couple a year, maybe. I've heard people tell me it's done. Everyone, like all the producers and all the people who worked specifically on those shows, many of them, well, pretty much all of them have been cut. So, it's basically a way to cut a lot of people. And for original new programming, they just looked at those numbers, not just the Backstage numbers, but the numbers of all three shows, and just felt that we're getting out of this business."
According to the report, a lot of the people who were only working on those shows have been cut. They looked at the numbers of all three shows in total and decided that they were changing up their business approach.
Renee Young, Booker T, Paige, and CM Punk were regular parts of the show. This news will come as a blow, but it is possible that alongside the return of RAW Talk, Renee Young could come back in some format of a talk show on the WWE Network.