The start time for WWE’s flagship program, Monday Night Raw, has been fluctuating in recent weeks, and a new report has provided insight into the company’s strategy behind the changes. For the past two weeks, Raw has aired at 7 p.m. Eastern time, an hour earlier than its traditional 8 p.m. slot. The October episodes are scheduled to return to the 8 p.m. start time, with the exception of the October 13 show, which will air at 8 a.m.
Eastern due to the company being in Australia for the Crown Jewel premium live event. The initial reason for the time shift was reported to be an experiment aimed at mitigating the impact of the NFL’s Monday Night Football. Now, a new report from Fightful Select has added more context to the scheduling decisions, revealing that logistical challenges for live audiences have also played a role in the fluctuating start times.
According to the Fightful Select report, the decision to revert to the 8 p.m. start time for most of the October shows is primarily due to the locations of the events. The October episodes are scheduled to take place in Dallas, Texas; Sacramento, California; and Anaheim, California. With these shows in the Central and Pacific time zones, a 7 p.m. Eastern start time would have required local fans to arrive at the arena as early as 4 p.m. or 5 p.m., a challenging proposition for a weekday show.
This logistical reality has reportedly led WWE to stick with the traditional start time for those events. The report also notes that the company is still considering the start times for the upcoming Raw episodes in Boston and Madison Square Garden in New York City. In these two major East Coast markets, an earlier start time would be more feasible for the live audience. The competition with the NFL’s Monday Night Football has been a reality for WWE for decades, and the company continually explores new strategies to maintain its audience during the football season.
The experiment with a 7 p.m. start time is the latest attempt to get ahead of the competition by providing a one-hour lead-in before the football game kicks off. The next episode of Monday Night Raw, scheduled for September 29, will also start at the earlier 7 p.m. Eastern time.
This is just a snippet of the story. For complete details, please visit Fightful Select at Patreon.com/Fightful.
