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ECW RENEWED THROUGH END OF 2007 BY SCIFI NETWORK 
by Mike Johnson 

WWE's third brand, Extreme Championship Wrestling, is here to stay. The SciFi Network announced the following this morning: 

SCI FI CHANNEL EXTENDS ECW 

New York, N.Y., August 31, 2006 - SCI FI Channel today announced it will keep its new hit program, ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling®), on the network through at least the end of 2007. ECW is produced by World Wrestling Entertainment®, the producer of the No. 1 weekly basic cable TV series, “Monday Night RAW®” on USA Network. 

ECW debuted on SCI FI as a summer series in June on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT, providing an alternative brand of wrestling suited to fit the Channel’s commitment to fuel the imagination. The program met with immediate success, with its premiere attracting more than 1.8 million new viewers to SCI FI; 43% of the ECW's premiere audience had not watched the SCI FI Channel during the prior 4 weeks. The debut also set a Channel record for a series premiere attracting 1.07 million viewers 18-34, the most ever in the demographic. 

ECW has remained consistent throughout its summer run, averaging about 2.7 million viewers and ranking as one of SCI FI's highest rated weekly programs. It has consistently been one of the top-rated programs in primetime on Tuesday among male teens and one of the top-rated cable programs in households. 

SCI FI Channel is a television network where "what if" is what's on. SCI FI fuels the imagination of viewers with original series and events, blockbuster movies and classic science fiction and fantasy programming, as well as a dynamic Web site (www.scifi.com) and magazine. Launched in 1992, and currently in 85 million homes, SCI FI Channel is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies. 

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media and entertainment company headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Toronto and London. Additional information on the company can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. 

FINDING SMACKDOWN OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS AS UPN ENDS AND CW BEGINS

With the changeover to the new CW network, Smackdown will be moving on some networks, many in some of the largest markets in America.  Here is a listing of where you can find the show in the major markets:

New York on WPIX:
Saturday, Sept. 2, 2-3 p.m. (one hour version of this week's show)
Saturday, Sept. 9, 8-10 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 16, 8-10 p.m.

Los Angeles on KTLA:
Saturday, Sept. 2, 12:30-1:30 a.m. (one hour version of this week's show)
Sunday, Sept. 10, 3-5 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 17, 3-5 p.m.

Chicago on WGN:
Saturday, Sept. 2, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. (one hour version of this week's show)
Saturday, Sept. 9, 11:30 p.m-1:30 a.m.
Saturday, Sept. 16, 11:30 p.m-1:30 a.m.

Washington on WDCW:
Saturday, Sept. 2, 11 p.m. (one hour version of this week's show)
Saturday, Sept. 9, 8-10 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 16, 8-10 p.m.

Houston on KCHW:
Saturday, Sept. 9, 7-9 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 16, 7-9 p.m.

Hartford, Conn. on WTXX:
Saturday, Sept. 9, 8-10 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 16, 8-10 p.m.

WWE NEWS ON JIM ROSS, EDGE, JOHN CENA, SMACKDOWN, WWE TALENT RECRUITING, DIVA WANNABE AND MORE

Jim Ross has posted his first blog entry at his new website, www.jrsbarbq.com.  He plans on blogging a few times a week there.  Should be interesting.

Speaking of Ross, Mike K sent along this link, which goes to an interview that he did with Alex Marvez this week where he talks about being let go, then brought back, as the voice of Raw.

USA Network finished August as the top-rated basic cable network in total viewers (2.9 million), adults 18-34 (600,000), adults 18-49 (1.3 million) and adults 25-54 (2.9 million). Comparably, that was a record in all four categories.  Of course, Raw was a part of that.

MTV.com has a story about Edge being in New York on Wednesday as part of Video Music Award week.

Celebrity Duets, with Chris Jericho (for the only time) did a 5.4 broadcast rating, with a 9 share, on Tuesday.  They are repeating Tuesday's show again tonight on Fox for those who want to see it.

Alex Cercone sent this item. ... There's a brief article on John Cena on Flex magazine's webpage about a photo shoot he just did for them. 
 
Rich "Cashman" Jones sent this. ... Smackdown is jumping from UPN18 to WB16 here in Rochester starting with next week's show. Since that is 2 weeks  before the debut of the CW Network that means that Smackdown will air on Saturday September 9th from 5-7pm and Saturday September 16th from 5-7pm.   The official kick off for the CW Network isn't until the week of September 18th. It will join the CW lineup starting September 22nd at it's regular day and time of Friday at 8pm on WB16 here in Rochester.

Afa The Samoan's WXW sent out the following today: "WXW would like to publicly issue a “Thank You” to WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT as WXW hosted a WWE talent scout opportunity & was reviewed to possibly join WWE as a developmental territory.  WWE Director of Talent Relations JOHN LAURINAITIS, Manager of WWE Development MIKE BUCCI, Manager of WWE Talent Appearances MARK CARRANO, SNITSKY, & former WWE champion BATISTA were all on hand for this exciting opportunity."

Today's Dallas Morning News has a story about The Rock giving a "stay in school" lecture to high school students in the city.  To read it, click here.

The East Valley Tribune has a "local girl who almost made good" piece on diva search loser JT Tinney in today's edition.  In it, she said she would be calling WWE about getting a contract.  You can read the story by clicking here. 

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