6 Major things WWE President Nick Khan revealed in his rare interview with Ariel Helwani

#2. Nick Khan wants more hours added to RAW and SmackDown

Nick Khan with Helwani on the length of Raw:"From my point of view, Raw would benefit from being four hours, so we would get paid more money and SmackDown would be eight hours...

— John Pollock (@iamjohnpollock) August 22, 2021

Nick Khan was asked about the length of RAW and SmackDown. Ariel Helwani addressed the more popular opinion that the Red brand will benefit from having one hour less.

Khan doesn't view it the same way fans do, for understandable reasons. RAW was intentionally extended to a three-hour show to get a more lucrative broadcast deal. The third hour of the show is worth tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Nick Khan said that if it were up to him, RAW would be four hours and SmackDown would be eight hours. However, he admitted that it would stifle the creative team and knows that there is only so much good content they can churn out every week:

"From my point of view, RAW would benefit from being four hours, so we would get paid more money and SmackDown would be eight hours. But I understand that our creative folks, as amazing as they are, there is only so much great content they can do on a weekly basis. So, I’m good with the ‘three and two (hour) system,’" said Nick Khan.

PSA: Nick Khan was clearly joking when he said he wanted Raw to be four hours and SmackDown eight hours.Those spreading it as fact are either incredibly dense or just trying to stir the pot.

— James of WebIsJericho.com (@Y2JamesRyder) August 23, 2021

While Khan was joking about the Blue brand being eight hours, it's a clear signal as to how valuable the show has become. The five-year, $1 billion deal that WWE signed with FOX for SmackDown's broadcasting rights changed how the company views the brand.

There's no doubt that it is the more valuable brand monetarily, which is why there has been a heavy push and shift in emphasis after two-and-a-half decades of RAW being the "flagship show of WWE".