USA Network Reportedly Happy with WWE’s Recent Internal Changes & RAW Ratings

USA Network reportedly has been pleased with the changes and ratings from WWE under their new regime, according to Fightful Select.

It was reported that one longtime USA Network source spoken to stated that WWE’s rise in ratings for RAW since Vince McMahon’s retirement was more in line with the numbers that USA Network had expected when they extended their television deal with WWE in 2019. This same source also stated that USA Network’s expectations had changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic but they had never really imagined a world where RAW was constantly under 2 million viewers weekly outside of holidays. This same source also stated “the following weeks were be the real test, but the results from the first Monday had me personally very excited.”

One NBC Universal source stated that they did not personally expect the changes within WWE to be so drastic and praised the buzz for RAW under Paul “Triple H” Levesque’s leadership. This same source also stated that they expect SmackDown’s numbers to see a similar increase for FOX and was hopeful of it being higher than the viewership of the show that featured McMahon after the initial Wall Street Journal story about his allegations was released.

In regards to the direction of RAW and content itself, one USA Network source stated that they personally view RAW as more appointment viewing and the changes have felt more natural. This same source also stated that there have been more talks within the company about RAW in recent weeks than there was previously since their current television deal started.

One longtime USA Network employee stated that the WWE and USA Network relationship has long been an easygoing and business as usual one but many within the company have been happy over the creative changes implements this month after Levesque took over. This same source also stated that they would be surprised if the company did not make a play to renew WWE programming on their network when negotiations are likely to start next year. This same source also stated that they currently believe WWE has put themselves in an an even better position for a great new deal from the network.