USA Network and WWE has announced a five-year extension for WWE’s flagship program Monday Night RAW. The new agreement for the live, weekly three-hour block which commences in October 2019 continues WWE and USA’s nearly three-decade-long relationship and is shown 52 weeks a year on the network. Needless to say, it remaining there really isn't that much of a surprise!
"Monday Night Raw and USA Network have dominated Monday nights during a truly historic run," says Chris McCumber, President, Entertainment Networks for NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment in the press release. "Our partnership with WWE is one of the strongest and most successful in the business, and together we’ll take Raw to even greater heights."
"We look forward to continuing our long-standing partnership with NBCUniversal and USA Network," Vince McMahon, WWE Chairman & CEO, added while making it clear that RAW will remain the flagship show for WWE. "Monday Night Raw has been synonymous with USA Network and we are excited about what the future holds for WWE’s flagship program."
Whether or not RAW really will be the flagship show is debatable, especially as SmackDown Live is heading to FOX, a non-cable channel which ensures even bigger ratings than RAW for the blue brand.