WWE Inks Korean Programming Pact

World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. will provide 1,400 hours of original programming to Korea’s CJ Media through January 2008 under terms of an agreement announced Monday.

Among the programs heading to CJ’s youth-oriented XTM network are WWE Raw, WWE SmackDown!, WWE Heat, WWE Velocity, WWE Bottom Line and WWE AfterBurn. The deal also covers 15 monthly specials per year, including WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, SummerSlam and Survivor Series.

“This is a landmark deal for WWE in the enormously important Korean market,” WWE senior vice president and managing director, international-TV group Andrew Whitaker said in a prepared statement.

“Partnering with a first-class company such as CJ Media is yet another example of the WWE brand delivering for broadcasters,” he added, “and we are sure this will provide an entry point for WWE to operate in other emerging platform spaces.”