Eric Bischoff has been replaced by Bruce Prichard as the executive director Friday Night SmackDown.

Prichard will report directly to Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon.

The move comes after news today that after a successful debut on Fox, Smackdown’s viewership shrunk from 3.888 million to 2.899 million viewers during its second week.

“Prichard brings nearly 40 years of experience in sports entertainment with an extensive background in character development and creative storytelling,” said the WWE press release. “Over the course of his career, Prichard has served in a variety of roles including announcer, producer, agent and on-screen personality. Earlier this year, Prichard returned to WWE as a member of the company’s creative team.”

Bischoff, the former president of WCW, was hired along with former ECW frontman Paul Heyman to manage Smackdown and Raw respectively in June with much fanfare by the WWE.

Prichard is also known for his on-screen role as the Brother Love character in WWE.

It is not known if Bischoff and the WWE have parted ways or if Bischoff will be taking on another role within the WWE.

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