In preparation of the official premiere of SmackDown on the new CW network on Friday, Sept. 22, Tribune television stations in six major markets will air WWE's Friday Night SmackDown early next month. The Tribune stations include WPIX in New York, KTLA in Los Angles, WGN in Chicago, WDCW in Washington, KHCW in Houston and WTXX in Hartford, Conn.

"Tribune stations are working closely with the new CW and WWE to successfully transition SmackDown in markets where the program will be switching to new stations," said Marc Schacher, Tribune Broadcasting Senior Vice President, Programming. "We want to make sure that WWE fans in these markets know exactly where and when SmackDown airs so they don't miss a minute of the action." 

"We will be keeping our fans informed of these changes on WWE.com as soon as details in each market are finalized," said Kurt Schneider, WWE's Executive Vice President, Marketing. "We're very excited about our move to the CW network and appreciate our fans' patience as SmackDown transitions to its new station homes across the United States in September."

Tribune Broadcasting owns and operates 25 television stations concentrated in major markets and Superstation WGN on national cable. The group's combined reach is more than 80 percent of U.S. television households.

The Friday Night SmackDown schedule in the six markets mentioned above for the first three weeks of September is as follows:

New York/WPIX:
Saturday, Sept. 2, 2-3 p.m.*
Saturday, Sept. 9, 8-10 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 16, 8-10 p.m.

Los Angeles/KTLA:
Saturday, Sept. 2, 12:30-1:30 a.m.*
Sunday, Sept. 10, 3-5 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 17, 3-5 p.m.

Chicago/WGN
Saturday, Sept. 2, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m.*
Saturday, Sept. 9, 11:30 p.m-1:30 a.m.
Saturday, Sept. 16, 11:30 p.m-1:30 a.m.

Washington/WDCW
Saturday, Sept. 2, 11 p.m.*
Saturday, Sept. 9, 8-10 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 16, 8-10 p.m.

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

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

*Note that these broadcasts are a one-hour version of the Sept. 1 original episode of Friday Night SmackDown.