The impact of the Coronavirus continues to ripple across the entertainment world. As WWE prepares to present SmackDown on FOX tonight from the Performance Center in Orlando (following the cancellation of the planned live event in Detroit), the company received word today their weekly FS1 show will be halted for at least one week.
FOX announced that they are suspending all of their live studio programming until at least next Friday, March 20th. A subsequent tweet from WWE revealed that this would indeed apply to the company’s Tuesday night FS1 broadcast, WWE Backstage.
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The full statement reads:
“Out of an abundance of caution, we have made the decision to suspend production of our live FS1 daily studio shows through at least Friday, March 20.
Our top priority is the health and safety of our employees. We will continue to monitor the situation and adjust accordingly.”
FOX Sports statement on FS1 daily programming below.
Updated programming schedule for this weekend: https://t.co/dFWkLrD4XY pic.twitter.com/KwRW04wIKl
— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) March 13, 2020
This includes #WWEBackstage. We will be sure to update the @WWE Universe as soon as we know more https://t.co/1SubBK1KMe
— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) March 13, 2020
This week’s show was supposed to feature the return of CM Punk to the broadcast, as well as a guest appearance by NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley.
Host Renee Young sent out her thoughts on the suspension of Backstage.
This is a huge bummer all around. We love doing this show, but of course healthy and safety are number one. See you guys real soon! ❤️ https://t.co/1w30B7oP3O
— Renee Young (@ReneeYoungWWE) March 13, 2020
There’s no word yet on what will replace Backstage in its Tuesday night, 11:00 p.m. Eastern time slot. We will keep our readers posted should any news be revealed.
