WWE Raw Will Be Staying 3 Hours "For The Foreseeable Future"

WWE CFO George Barrios has indicated this week that WWE "has no plans to retreat from the current three-hour Raw format."

Despite concerns over the WWE’s flagship show's ratings in the long-term, Barrios pointed to several reasons why WWE and USA Network are publicly pleased with the current three hour shift during a presentation at the 40th Annual UBS Global Media Conference in New York on Monday.

- In reference to the addition of a third hour (as opposed to the actual third hour of Raw which has experienced audience erosion), Barrios said the 8:00 p.m. hour is “up 35 percent versus what it replaced for USA.” Barrios didn't say if that is viewership, overall rating, a keydemographic, or a combination of numbers.

- Barrios said USA is “very happy with that,” referring to the additional hour of programming. “The content is delivering for our network partners,” Barrios said.

- The short-term benefit of returning to six hours of original TV programming is generating more revenue from the more-lucrative third hour of Raw (as opposed to one hour of the D-Level Superstars show) and the new “Main Event” show (as opposed to one hour of the C-Level ECW/NXT).