Ever since holding its 1000th episode in July of 2012, WWE Raw has been a three hour broadcast.
While many fans may find it a struggle to consume three hours of wrestling every Monday night, Raw has held steady at three hours for over a decade and that doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon as the longer broadcast brings in more revenue from advertisers.
According to a report from Brandon Thurston, WWE President Nick Khan spoke today at at a JP Morgan Technology, Media, and Communications Conference today and addressed the third hour of Raw, making it clear that the show isn’t likely to change in length. However, he did indicate possible changes, such as making the third hour more “adult.”
Nick Khan at JPMorgan TMT now: “Raw is 3 hours. We don’t anticipate that changing.” They’re in discussions about what to do with the 10-11pm hour, whether to make it more “adult”.
Nick Khan at JPMorgan TMT now: "Raw is 3 hours. We don't anticipate that changing." They're in discussions about what to do with the 10-11pm hour, whether to make it more "adult".
— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) May 23, 2023
It remains to be seen what more “adult” programming could look like in the PG Era.
The company has tried similar experiments in the past, debuting Raw Underground in August of 2020. The broadcast, announced by Shane McMahon, was styled as an underground fight club, with participants fighting in a ring with no ropes. The experiment featured the debut of Dabba-Kato prior to his alliance with Apollo Crews.
WWE SmackDown Could Also Move To Three Hours
Speaking at the same conference, Nick Khan confirmed that SmackDown could also be set for changes, namely adding a third hour to match the broadcast time of Raw and potentially switching nights if that would better suit its network. Brandon Thurston reported:
Nick Khan said, “We’re still open to a third hour for Smackdown.” He talked up Amazon. He said Smackdown as well as Raw “can go on any night of the week.”