WWE PPV buyrates, Sky Box Office buys/viewing rates?

parker kent

I think these figures show that all the WWE rants on here over the last 2 years have been spot on. They have made so many idiotic decisions and it was always going to lead to reduced PPV buyrates.

Hygro

Would an idea for the WWE to cut back on PPV's. I'm not saying go back to only 4 ppv a year (like the glory days of the 80's/early 90's) but maybe 6? I mean not only could it make more people actually buy the event (as they're on so "rarely") but it would cut down on the wwe's on cost of staging so many of the bloody things.

waltersobchak

Hygro wrote: »

Would an idea for the WWE to cut back on PPV's. I'm not saying go back to only 4 ppv a year (like the glory days of the 80's/early 90's) but maybe 6? I mean not only could it make more people actually buy the event (as they're on so "rarely") but it would cut down on the wwe's on cost of staging so many of the bloody things.

I think WWE's mentality of 14 PPV's doing 100,000+ is better than 6 doing 200,000+ and honestly i'll never understand that.. Personally i think the oversaturation of WWE PPV's makes it completely justified for fans to no longer see PPV as a big deal(like they use to be) and therefore stream it online for free.. Hell its a global recession and WWE expect fans to fork out $50 a PPV 14 times a year, for the same unmitigated bullsh*t, Main Events with the same rinse, wash, repeat storylines and feuds..

jaykhunter

That's exactly right. They've save more money doing half the PPVs and double the buyrates; even from a PPV provider point of view; not to mention giving their talent a few more days off.

I don't think WWE will ever drop below 12; as Vince'll see that as a sign of weakness etc; as opposed to good business sense. (i hate jumping from one company to the other) but TNA have the same misplaced pride about 12 PPVs/year despite losing money on the vast majority.

On a different point, despite WWE's buyrates going down the ****ter, the slack IS picked up by added licencing their name/merchandise etc so they're only 1-2 million less profit than last year.

(The following are guesses on my part.) That said, online piracy would only be by maybe 10,000 people; who likely wouldn't pay for the PPV if it weren't available. The cross-over of UFC/WWE PPV-buying fans might be 20,000 at best...So not enough to explain why a PPV is down 60,000-100,000 buys. It's their "same shít different PPV" mentality that's to blame. Storylines don't have a start, middle and end, they just peter out long past their sell by date. Proof? They 'got' 2 more PPVs out of Cole/Lawler, and who are the champions now? Those fresh young upstarts!!

Machismo Fan

jaykhunter wrote: »

That's exactly right. They've save more money doing half the PPVs and double the buyrates; even from a PPV provider point of view; not to mention giving their talent a few more days off.

I don't think less PPV's is the answer, I don't think half the PPV's necessarily means double the buyrates. What if it turns out to be half the PPV's with the same buyrates because of the usual crappy build and uninteresting matches?

jaykhunter

That'd be hilarious! I'd have to think that having less PPVs would force WWE's hand book build towards them and make them worthwhile, for fear of that happening! If they had 6 PPVs/year and had the same exact show but have the 6 other PPVs as 3 hour RAWs it might very well happen - half the total ppv buys.... That might be what's stopping them. That and the pride, and the deal with the PPV companies.

D2D

Source:

WWE received some good news and bad news when it comes to the May 2011 PPV events.

Extreme Rules on 5/1 ended up producing the second worst domestic PPV buyrate in company history with a preliminatry estimate of 65,000 buys (December 2 Dismember in 2006 holds the record with 52,000 buys) or 138,000 buys worldwide.

Over The Limit on 5/15, just two weeks later, rebounded for the company drawing an estimated 220,000 buys worldwide with 113,000 domestic. This is up from last year's show that drew 197,000 buys, although the overseas market definitely helped out with the number.

Africa

Will be very interesting to see what MITB is like.

I still wont pay for them though save the Rumble and Mania.

jaykhunter

That's odd, I thought it would've been the opposite way around - Extreme Rules is usually the actual finish of Mania and is generally a very good show - although this year WWE stretched out the feuds until Over the Limit.

Extreme Rules was headlined by Cena jobbing out Miz/Morrison in a cage, and Christian beating Del Rio for the WHC in a ladder match.

Over the Limit saw the actual end to the Lawler/Cole feud, Cena beating Miz and Orton retaining against Christian.

I imagine that MITB will have a noticeable bump in buy-rates - maybe 250,000 because of the high interest due to Punk's situation.

Rjd2

jaykhunter wrote: »

That's odd, I thought it would've been the opposite way around - Extreme Rules is usually the actual finish of Mania and is generally a very good show - although this year WWE stretched out the feuds until Over the Limit.

Extreme Rules was headlined by Cena jobbing out Miz/Morrison in a cage, and Christian beating Del Rio for the WHC in a ladder match.

Over the Limit saw the actual end to the Lawler/Cole feud, Cena beating Miz and Orton retaining against Christian.

I imagine that MITB will have a noticeable bump in buy-rates - maybe 250,000 because of the high interest due to Punk's situation.

What makes it more bizarre, did OTL not have a huge UFC fight that weekend as well.

jaykhunter

Rjd2 wrote: »

What makes it more bizarre, did OTL not have a huge UFC fight that weekend as well.

That's odd! wtf... but i don't think there's that much overlap between the PPV buying WWE audience and UFC...... Although if Brock's fighting i'd say it more than doubles. Whatcha reckon?

GTR63

Rjd2 wrote: »

What makes it more bizarre, did OTL not have a huge UFC fight that weekend as well.

No Rampage fought Hamill about a week later,i'd expect a buy bump for MitB but I don't think 200k buys should be anything for WWE to throw their hats into the air about.

jaykhunter

Last year 200k was their litmus test for success or disappointment; I think their average has dropped; maybe 175,000 now? (if someone wants to do the maths )

That said their licensing revenue is way up so they're overall only maybe 4 million down/year.

rovert

WWE's Capitol Punishment PPV garnered 200,000 buys, according to business figures released for the month of June 2011 on WWE's corporate website. That preliminary figure is up from 143,000 buys for the June 2010 Fatal Four Way PPV, the concept of which was dropped as a PPV event.

PWInsider

rovert

The figure Punk needs to beat

jaykhunter

That's great news for WWE. 200,000 is well above the norm of their b-side shows.

It wasn't exactly a stellar card, but maybe WWE can thank all the little Jimmy's for buying the PPV

Very much looking forward to seeing what MITB did.

rovert

jaykhunter wrote: »

That's great news for WWE. 200,000 is well above the norm of their b-side shows.

It wasn't exactly a stellar card, but maybe WWE can thank all the little Jimmy's for buying the PPV

Very much looking forward to seeing what MITB did.

It would be hilariously tragic if Capitol Punishment beats MITB

rovert

Dave Meltzer:

Preliminary indications have Money in the Bank doing in the range of double what Capitol Punishment did in the United States although it won’t be until the end of August when WWE releases a number.

Yay

jaykhunter

I read on another forum that Capitol Punishment was now more likely around 175,000 lemme know if u read any updates. It's probably way too early to tell but fingers crossed for MITB/Punk. If it bombs and with the "nascar-impaired" ratings they might just panic book

rovert

jaykhunter wrote: »

I read on another forum that Capitol Punishment was now more likely around 175,000 lemme know if u read any updates. It's probably way too early to tell but fingers crossed for MITB/Punk. If it bombs and with the "nascar-impaired" ratings they might just panic book

WWE rounded up hoping that there is more buy is to come in for that show.

The actual figure is closer to 175k.

It is in the bottom 4 of all time low buy rates.

jaykhunter

Cheers. Low domestically (top 10 worst domestic WWE PPV numbers) but they've had worldwide PPVs end up in the 140,000 region! Average worldwide is about 175,000 so it's not the end of the world. Although domestic buys bring in about double the revenue as international buys; and US buys are in general quite down.

jaykhunter

BrianMercy from another forum quoted WON; think it's worth a gander :

Each PPV the WWE puts out is divided three ways:

10% goes to the Cable/Satellight companies (Cablevision, Time Warner, Dish Network, DirectTV)
40% goes to the WWE
50% goes to the PPV provider (InDemand)

If a PPV draws about 8 million, the WWE only keeps a small fraction of the PPV buys. For the WWE to break even, each PPV must do 75,000 buys. Anything after is just profit for the three parties involved. The reason why the WWE makes a big deal about PPV's is because, 1) They can see if certian feuds are drawing enough people to care, 2) Tthe cost it takes to produce the show, and 3) PPV's is what makes the WWE money these days outside of merchandise sales.

Charisteas

Money In The Bank did 210,000 on Sky Sports 1.

So it beat the last WWE PPV that was on Sky Sports (not Box Office) was Over The Limit which got 159,000 on Sky Sports 2

But it didn't beat Elimination Chamber which got 267,000 on Sky Sports 1.


Source: barb.co.uk

D2D

WrestleMania XXVII did 1,059,000 buys

Extreme Rules 2011 got 209,000 buys, up from last years 182,000 buys

Over The Limit 2011 got 140,000 buys, down from last years 197,000 buys

WWE Capitol Punishment got 170 buys, up from last years Fatal 4 Way (the event it replaced) 143,000 buys

GTR63

Any early word on the MitB buyrate yet?

D2D

GTR63 wrote: »

Any early word on the MitB buyrate yet?

Meltzer reported that it was around double what Capitol Punishment got in the States so I'd expect it to come in around the 250-350 k mark but the final number won't be revealed until October'ish

the groutch

there are still far too many PPVs imo, 7 squeezed between summerslam & wrestlemania.
if it was up to me they should get rid of Hell In A Cell & Elimination Chamber, have TLC take Vengeance's spot and bring it forward a few weeks, and move Mania to mid March.

D2D

Listening to the Corporate call with Vince here, the Money in the Bank PPV's rate is up around 20% from last year

GTR63

Dare_2_defy wrote: »

Listening to the Corporate call with Vince here, the Money in the Bank PPV's rate is up around 20% from last year

Last years did about 165,000 buys( http://www.wrestlingnewsworld.com/wwe-news/official-buyrate-numbers-for-wwe-money-in-the-bank-summerslam-night-of-champions.php ) so about 210,000 bit dissapointed if thats the final number.

jaykhunter

Here's the full breakdown of WWE's Conference Call from August 4th (thanks to John Pollock @lawradio). It's important to note that WM occured in Q2 this year, as opposed to Q1 last year, which skews Live Events, Venue Merch and PPV revenue.

Quick numbers :
Live Events up $6m
PPV up $24m
TV rights up $1m
Venue Merch up $2m
Licensing up $3m
WWE.com/WWEShop up $1m
Home video down $4m
WWE Magazines down $1m

**The WWE released their second quarter earnings report today yielding a profit of $14.3 million off revenues of $142.6 million as compared to profits of $6.3 million off of $106.8 million in the same quarter last year. This is misleading because due to timing WrestleMania 26 took place in Q1 of 2010 while WrestleMania 27 this year took place in Q2 and numbers are going not a fair comparison to Q2 of 2010 when looking at this year’s numbers. This year’s WrestleMania was responsible for $35.9 million in revenue and made a profit of $11.4 million after taxes. Here is the breakdown of the key areas:

*Live Events - $35.2 million (compared to $29.2 million in the same quarter last year but again propped up by WrestleMania, which the comparison number doesn’t have the benefit of)

*Pay-Per View - $34.4 million ($10.4 million in 2010) – there were four pay-per-views this year in Q2 with one being ‘Mania as compared to three non-Mania events in 2010 in Q2

*Television Rights Fees - $32.0 million (up from $30.8 million) which is a strong number considering the rights fees lost for ‘Superstars’ and ‘NXT’ being moved to WWE.com

*Venue Merchandise - $6.3 million ($4.3 million)

*Home Video - $7.5 million ($11.5 million) this is a terrible result for the home video market with WrestleMania fairing poorly on DVD

*Licensing - $12.0 million ($8.7 million) The combination of the Mattel deal and the strong performance of ‘WWE All-Stars’ made this division one of the strong pillars for the quarter

*Magazine Publishing - $1.6 million ($2.5 million) this is a tough industry to continue onwards with and wouldn’t be surprised if the magazine is moved to a digital property

*WWE.com - $3.4 million ($3.0 million)

*WWE Shop - $2.8 million ($2.4 million)

**Here is a look at the pay-per-view numbers for the prior quarter:

*WrestleMania 27 – 1,059,000 buys (up from 885,000 buys for ‘Mania 26) and I doubt you are going to hear Randy Orton complaining about The Rock being used on top anytime soon because here is your proof why he is in that spot and what he meant for the company for one night of business

*Extreme Rules – 209,000 buys – The Miz Vs John Cena for the WWE Title, Christian Vs Alberto Del Rio, Michael Cole & Jack Swagger Vs Jerry Lawler & Jim Ross (up from 182,000 buys in 2010)

*Over the Limit – 140,000 buys – John Cena Vs The Miz, Randy Orton Vs Christian, Jerry Lawler Vs Michael Cole (down from 197,000 buys in 2010)

*Capitol Punishment – 170,000 buys – John Cena Vs R-Truth, Randy Orton Vs Christian (up from 143,000 buys for the ‘Fatal Four Way’ show in 2010)



Quick PPV trends :
WM is up 74k
Extreme Rules is up 27k
OTL is down 57k
CP is up 27k.


**During the conference call Vince McMahon hinted a future 8pm EST live show that will be kicking off but didn’t provide a start date for the program. It has been rumored that the USA Network has been wanting to a launch a countdown style of show to lead into ‘Raw’, which is a tough timeslot as ‘Raw’ is always hurt on the three-hour shows by the first hour and it’s going to be tough to draw the same numbers as some of the USA’s lead ins do in that timeslot.



McMahon was asked about his recent meeting with UFC President Dana White and said it was more of a ‘social meeting’ than anything business related and was adamant about not partnering with the UFC for any business ventures and felt the UFC had ‘fallen on their butt’ recently in regards to trying to start their own network with NBC and Comcast.



McMahon also noted that The Rock is scheduled for a number of pay-per-view events in addition to WrestleMania 28 (Survivor Series is the only other event known at this time and it would be silly to use him prior that show but it makes sense to have him on the Royal Rumble event and perhaps the February show).


Both McMahon and George Barrios were noticeably down on the performance of their WWE Studios sector stating that they have put $120 million into their 15 movie projects and it has not yielded a return as of yet. McMahon said the Randy Orton project ‘That’s What I Am’ is a good movie but doesn’t target their audience and that ‘award winning movies don’t provide award winning sandwiches that you can eat’ as in they don’t make a lot of money. McMahon also said that they are expecting ‘SummerSlam’ to do ‘very well’.


**There was no number reported but Vince McMahon stated the recent ‘Money in the Bank’ event was up 20% 'as projected'.