Report: Update On SmackDown's Move To Three Hours, May Only Be Temporary
SmackDown's three-hour runtime is reportedly only for six months
It was reported this week that Friday Night SmackDown’s move to the USA Network would also bring about a change in the show’s length. WrestleVotes Radio noted that when Monday Night RAW leaves the USA Network and heads to Netflix in January, SmackDown will be earning an extra hour, increasing from two hours to three hours. This change is expected to go into effect on January 3.
However, further talk from WrestleVotes Radio has revealed some more details about this switch to three hours, suggesting that fans should not necessarily get used to it.
According to Joey Votes of WrestleVotes Radio, via Sportskeeda’s Backstage Pass, the internal discussion in WWE is that SmackDown’s move to three hours is only for a period of six months, before the show then moves back to two hours around June time. This suggests that SmackDown’s three time slot might be an experiment to see if interest and viewership figures are there on a Friday night like they are on a Monday for RAW. This leaves the door open for the USA Network to not commit to SmackDown being three hours long for the long term.