As noted, WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque had stated in an interview with The Pat McAfee Show this past January that Smackdown’s move to being a weekly three-hour show was not a permanent move. WWE had been considering plans for SmackDown to go back to being a two-hour weekly show starting on June 6th only for those plans to be delayed instead.
WrestleVotes Radio reported that their sources stated that WWE’s SmackDown show will remain as a weekly three-hour show for the foreseeable future. The reason reportedly is due to USA Network and NBCUniversal officials have been satisfied with the performance of yhe show in the third hour.
It was reported that WWE and USA Network had agreed to a final three-hour runtime show on Friday, May 30th but those plans had changed.
It was also reported that the status of SmackDown’s runtime has been a fluid discussion and a return to being a weekly two-hour show could take place as early as this fall.

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