WWE Network Thread

rossie1977

Monokne wrote: »

I agree.

I do however find it extraordinary they have somehow managed to cut the costs by over 60%. That suggests either 1) They're drastically reducing new content and overall quality of the network. 2) They were spending a lot of superfluous money or 3) They're talking out of their hoop

i actually looked this up and meltzer has his numbers wrong :pac:

going by this chart 500k would only get them to overall breakeven. to get it back up to oibda from 2012 which was $63 million they would need a million subs (which i am assuming is worldwide)

Ape Lincoln

Chris Harrington on this podcast discusses the quarterly report and Network economics. Worth a listen if people are into that end. of it. http://www.shakethemropes.com/2014/07/31/str-731-chris-harrington-wwe-q2-results/

jaykhunter

WWE hounding fans to buy the Network at RAW last week



I wrote up a round up of the WWE Network conference & some points if interested:

The WWE Network number is in, It's 700,000!
• That means they 33k more subscribers since WrestleMania (although it doesn't include July's subs) which is quite poor.
• WWE need double that (1.4m) American subscribers to break even
• 128,000 cancelled their subs in the last 3 months (i.e. tried it out after Mania and didn't want it)

Notes from the conference:
• You will be able to sign up for ONE MONTH for $20 without commitment
• Aug 12 - Canadians: WWE Network will be a pay-TV channel on Rogers (12CAD/month). This is like HBO. If you don't have Rogers then you'll need to pirate it like how it is now...
• Aug 12 - Network launches in Australia, NZ, HK, Singapore, Mexico, Spain, Nordics
• October - UK gets WWE Network (Great! Was expecting February 2015)
• "Later" - Italy, UAE, Germany, Japan, India, China, Thailand and Malaysia

Other things to keep in mind:
• Most Network subscriptions will end ~August 24th or so (after SummerSlam, the last big PPV of the year) so expect even more desperation on RAW from Cena/Lawler to beg you to subscribe
• WWE spent $75 million starting up the Network over the last 4 years
• Initially, to get back to the financial state they were in before putting any money into the Network (i.e. 2010), they'll need a constant 2 MILLION SUBS WORLDWIDE FROM 2016-2020.
• WWE's new plan is to massively cut costs ($10m this year and $30m next year) so they can break even on 500k subs. That's both incredible & scary.

rovert

It isn't really "hounding" fans UFC Fight Pass does the same thing as does other services.

jaykhunter

I disagree, it was during an ad break on the RAW with the Cena/Lawler WWE Network begging.

rovert

jaykhunter wrote: »

I disagree, it was during an ad break on the RAW with the Cena/Lawler WWE Network begging.

Link?

jaykhunter

If you want to see how the WWE Network has affected PPVs:

Wrestlemania: 690,000 buys
Extreme Rules: 108,000 buys
Payback: 67,000 buys
Money in the Bank: 122,00 buys
*** the MITB number, considering it only did 48,000 International buys last year and WWE gave it no PPV promotion is a good result.

WWE Studios lost $200,000.
Digital Media lost $400,00 (attributed to collapse of iPPV and a drop in ads on website).
DVD/BRD shipments were the lowest for any Quarter in years (578,000).

Credit PiledriverWrestling.net

ShaneU

http://www.wwe.com/wwenetwork/wwe-network-outside-united-states-26533843

coming to the UK in October

Blue_Dabadee

Ape Lincoln wrote: »

Does anyone know when they are implementing this 6 months/$60 up-front thing?

My guess is August 12th.

Ape Lincoln

mxph3 wrote: »

My guess is August 12th.

Was thinking that myself. I intend to re-subscribe via Paypal before the locked-in 6months.

I went to sign-up again recently but it appears my account is locked out so I've to setup a new account.

Blue_Dabadee

I am dying to know what they are going to do with UK version of WWE Network. Are we going to get both OTT service and premium channel of WWE Network?

jaykhunter

mxph3 wrote: »

I am dying to know what they are going to do with UK version of WWE Network. Are we going to get both OTT service and premium channel of WWE Network?

I'm incredibly worried we'll get a bull**** version like Canada and basically have a Sky-only live channel instead of the actual network. We won't know until WWE lift the veil. But thankfully when it's rolled out here we'll be able to access the Network without workarounds.

takamichinoku

I know it's pretty much a constant thing, but it's pretty amazing how a lot of wrestling fans, in lieu of having the kind of endless stats to wade through that real sports have, basically become financial analysts to assess the breakeven points and buyrates and quarterly ratings for key demographs and so on. Definitely not making digs at anyone here or anything, I love it is all

jaykhunter

It's fascinating stuff if it interests you - it's also a level of fandom. I'd describe myself and some others as deep-rooted wrestling fans.
Easy- Enjoy WWE as a TV show
Medium- Enjoy the backstage scandal
Hard- See how the company as a whole is doing

They all affect each other. WWE's stock plummets, WWE cut 3MB, they're no longer on TV. Why something does/doesn't happen is usually more interesting than what's on screen

Blue_Dabadee

I will be happy to pay €10-30 a month for WWE Network, if you can watch RAW and Smackdown on WWE Network not just C-level shows like Main Event, NXT, Superstars like you get with US version and of course WWE PPVs.

OneEightSeven

mxph3 wrote: »

I will be happy to pay €10-30 a month for WWE Network, if you can watch RAW and Smackdown on WWE Network not just C-level shows like Main Event, NXT, Superstars like you get with US version and of course WWE PPVs.

Never going to happen.

takamichinoku

jaykhunter wrote: »

It's fascinating stuff if it interests you - it's also a level of fandom. I'd describe myself and some others as deep-rooted wrestling fans.
Easy- Enjoy WWE as a TV show
Medium- Enjoy the backstage scandal
Hard- See how the company as a whole is doing

They all affect each other. WWE's stock plummets, WWE cut 3MB, they're no longer on TV. Why something does/doesn't happen is usually more interesting than what's on screen

Yep! It's extremely hard to explain the appeal of the backstage part to most people (although damn near everyone seems to love some of the crazy stories), trying to explain the assessing ratings and profit margins and all that stuff is borderline impossible!

Blue_Dabadee

OneEightSeven wrote: »

Never going to happen.

Why?

rovert

mxph3 wrote: »

Why?

Sky pay too much money in rights fees.

It would be commercial suicide for WWE not to have a "shop window" on actual Television. You new to make new fans all the time.

Blue_Dabadee

rovert wrote: »

Sky pay too much money in rights fees.

It would be commercial suicide for WWE not to have a "shop window" on actual Television. You new to make new fans all the time.

So RAW and Smackdown will probably stick to Sky Sports channels? to introduce newer fans to the product.

rovert

mxph3 wrote: »

So RAW and Smackdown will probably stick to Sky Sports channels? to introduce newer fans to the product.

Yup. You have to create new fans to replace older fans.

Even with Youtube they aren't blocking as many videos as they could as they see the value in people sampling the product.

Blue_Dabadee

RAW & Smackdown = Sky Sports exclusives

WWE PPV's and everything else = WWE Network (premium channel) exclusives

Is that what will probably get?

Ape Lincoln

They said on the conference call that Canada was the only place they were doing a cable channel. Canada is also getting the USA version of the Network in addition to the Rogers thing.

I understand and agree with the point that WWE need to be on TV not only for the money they get for it but also the exposure. I'm not sure if this applies to Britain/Ireland as it is a premium sports channel they are on not one which airs comedies, dramas etc. There is much less wrestling on Sky 1 today than there was 10-15 yrs ago.

OneEightSeven

If the WWE Network cost something like €10.00 ($13.42) or more, I would just sign up to the American one instead for $10.00.

For the members on here who have the Network, how much did it cost you to change your IP address?

Ape Lincoln

OneEightSeven wrote: »

If the WWE Network cost something like €10.00 ($13.42) or more, I would just sign up to the American one instead for $10.00.

For the members on here who have the Network, how much did it cost you to change your IP address?

Approx €3.50 per month with unblock-us.com

There are cheaper options but I use unblock to access multiple Netflix regions and BBC Iplayer

OneEightSeven

Ape Lincoln wrote: »

Approx €3.50 per month with unblock-us.com

There are cheaper options but I use unblock to access multiple Netflix regions and BBC Iplayer

I'm not a Network user but I use a VPN anyway, so for people like me, it would work out to be cheaper to sign up to the US one instead.

Blue_Dabadee

The price of WWE Network will be available on Sky website by the end of August. Source

The Ayatolla

Any else think the quality of the web-browser version deterioriated? Looks a bit fuzzy now watching NXT, deffo doesn't look like 720p HD.

Using a Macbook Pro latest generation and eFibre 50mb with Unblock-US

The Ayatolla

mxph3 wrote: »

The price of WWE Network will be available on Sky website by the end of August. Source

I wouldn't trust a call centre worker in India, likely working for a different company other than Sky and subbed out to do their customer service.

Blue_Dabadee

The Ayatolla wrote: »

I wouldn't trust a call centre worker in India, likely working for a different company other than Sky and subbed out to do their customer service.

Yeah take it with a grain of salt.