Third hour of Raw not going Anywhere

[John McHenry]

WWE CFO George Barrios participated in the 40th annual UBS Global Media Conference in New York City on Monday and said the company is very focused on creating new content, according to a transcript on SeekingAlpha.com.

It doesn't sound like WWE will be taking RAW back to two hours anytime soon. Barrios touted that the third hour of RAW is up 35% versus the programming that was airing in its place on the USA Network. He added that USA is very happy with that. Barrios also noted that Saturday Morning Slam on the CW Network is up 50% over what it replaced and Main Event on Ion is up about 15% from the programming it replaced.

Barrios also talked about five major deals that WWE has coming up for renewal over the next few years, ones that he is confident about - RAW on USA, SmackDown on SyFy, BSkyB in the UK, Taj TV in India and Mattel.

Barrios briefly discussed the WWE Network but didn't really say anything new from what we've heard already. He mentioned that WWE feels there is too much there in a potential Network not to keep pushing at it. WWE believes the payoff could be too large to give up on it and continue to push on that.

I knew this was true already but was really hoping that wouldn't matter. It's obvious though that it'll stay as long as it's doing better than the NCIS reruns they did have on.

 

[Darth Shizzel]

There is a way to make the 3 hours work cut the filler crap and focus a bit more on the midcard boys and help them to get over an IC title match as a Raw main event isn't so bad either.

 

[Dale]

These 3 hours might be more tolerable on the Road To WrestleMania although I still highly doubt that.

I think the longer they stick with these 3 hour RAW's the more likely i'm going to become disinterested with the product especially with SmackDown sucking ass on a weekly basis too.

 

[John McHenry]

Quick easy fix= make brand extension real again.

 

[Chris]

Quick easy fix= make brand extension real again.

How would that help 3 hours of Raw though? That would give them less talent to work with in the 3 hours than they have now.

 

[John McHenry]

How would that help 3 hours of Raw though? That would give them less talent to work with in the 3 hours than they have now.

You'd have to hire more talent. But by making them brand specific again you couldn't miss (excuse me for the example) Cena on Raw but then see him again on Smackdown. It help each belt mean more as you don't have two world champs on the same show etc.

I guess its not a fix specifically to help the third hour just WWE in general. Fix them in general and the third hour should be ok.

Of course this is assuming that the third hour is broken and by the numbers its not and thats all USA and WWE care about.

 

[Keith]

For now if maybe working out but its still early and I don't see it sustaining. Also could it just be that maybe this shows that the viewers are selecting which hour of the show they feel might be more worth while watching rather than the concept of three hours actually working out?

 

[Rated R Superstar]

Not too surprised about this. If its making them money why get rid of it?

 

[Kiffy Lube]

I guess it's just me that has noticed that last 2-3 weeks of Raw had a lot more wrestling then the first few months they moved to three hours. Someone had to bring this up.

 

[The Cork]

Way too much wrestling on TV.

They should take hints from how flooding the market has hurt the UFC's popularity.

Too many shows = diluted product.

 

[AF.]

Combining the shows and making 1 Unified World title is how they can make the product interesting again. Piss SmackDown off for good. It is a terrible show when you take into account how much freedom the show has to be whatever it wants to be. SmackDown is a wasted potential week in week out.

Just make one mega-show with everybody on the roster. I'd much prefer that over anything else.

 

[SAIYANS]

And lose millions? What sane person would ever throw away so when the name value is worth millions in TV and video game revenue via listening globally?

 

[Troy]

I would prefer them to drop back to a two hour show but I am not surprised at all. If USA and WWE are happy there was no way they would change this agreement especially with WWE struggling a bit in other areas, the extra money from this deal helps make the balance sheet look a lot better.

 

[SAIYANS]

3 hours probably also keeps alot of talent happy. Guys get extra checks from TV. A guy like Truth working multiple tv shows likes his checks for example

 

[Weez]

Simple Fix for 3 hours: Make 3 Main events, every week. "Hour 1 Main Event" "Hour 2 Main event" "HOur 3 Main event"

3 Main events, 3 titles? (No, Butterflies don't count)

But really, you could have the first hour be something progressing the IC/US title stories, the 2nd hour a non-title related feud, and the 3rd hour for your top guys. Between matches all night long, you setup for later int eh show with all the backstage bs, and "undisclosed location" vignettes you want.

And get rid of that "Tonight, on Raw" bullshit. God.