For the first time since the event’s debut in 1987, WWE Survivor Series has been expanded to a four hour event, not including any of the usual kickoff show matches and analysis. WWE.com is listing this year’s Survivor Series pay-per-view with a 7:00 p.m. EST start time, one hour before the show would normally begin airing.
The company seems to be making a large push for their “big four” annual shows to be seen as massive weekend-long destination events, with both WrestleMania and the 2016 SummerSlam pay-per-view seeing four hour run times, following a weekend full of supplementary programming and fan events, including NXT Takeover specials, as well as Raw and Smackdown television tapings in the same city. The idea is to get fans travelling from all around the country, and in this case multiple countries as both Survivor Series and NXT Takeover will be hosted in Toronto this year. This will also be the first major event since SummerSlam to feature both the Raw and Smackdown Live brands on the same pay-per-view.
As noted, WWE will be returning to the Alamodome in 2017 for the Royal Rumble, for a show that is expected to see the same type of fanfare, which could include a four hour time slot and NXT Takeover special as well.
