– As previously reported, WWE Raw will be returning to a two-hour format starting Monday, October 7 through the end of the year, which will be Raw’s final months on USA Network. PWInsider has an update on the format change starting next month.
According to the report, the two-hour broadcast change was a part of WWE’s short-term deal with USA Network to broadcast Raw from October to December 2024. WWE needed to make a short-term deal for where to air Raw in the final quarter of 2024, since Raw won’t be moving to Netflix until January 2025.
WWE’s main goal was to reportedly keep running Raw weekly through the rest of 2024. With what WWE is set to make from Netflix for the new streaming deal for Raw, what WWE makes from the short-term deal on USA Network was reportedly not viewed as important as the Netflix deal. This way, Raw will continue running weekly until the Netflix move on January 5, 2025. Additionally, WWE reportedly wanted to remain a strong broadcast partner with USA, who they will still be in business with because SmackDown will be moving to the network next month as well.
PWInsider notes that it’s unknown if WWE plants to return to a three-hour format when Raw makes the move to Netflix. It’s said that some within WWE have played coy when asked about the subject, and others have reportedly suggested they will have the ability to be flexible with the show’s length depending on what is required on a given week. So it remains to be seen how that will play out.
