WWE Network Thread

beakerjoe · 15-04-2014 11:14AM

Ape Lincoln wrote: »

Shawn vs Jericho at Mania 19 is the next Wrestlemania Rewind tomorrow night. Should be good. I remember that match being great, in the **** range.

Whats the rewind? is it just the match itself or is there more to it, like interviews and opinions on it?

Loughc · 15-04-2014 11:17AM

beakerjoe wrote: »

Whats the rewind? is it just the match itself or is there more to it, like interviews and opinions on it?

Interviews and talking head segments in between clips of the match.

The Ayatolla · 15-04-2014 11:17AM

beakerjoe wrote: »

Whats the rewind? is it just the match itself or is there more to it, like interviews and opinions on it?

Full match, the discussion before/after it. It's a great show

beakerjoe · 15-04-2014 11:19AM

The Ayatolla wrote: »

Full match, the discussion before/after it. It's a great show

Its my fav ever WM match (being a Y2J mark myself) so this will be a worthwhile viewing. Cheers

x43r0 · 15-04-2014 12:27PM

Really enjoyed that Daniel Bryan WM30 diary thing they did

Pinkman · 15-04-2014 10:29PM

Anyone here have a Roku device? Bought the XS and the WWE Network won't load most videos. Keeps saying it won't play due to blackout restrictions. I'm using Unotelly which works perfectly on all my other devices. Netflix won't even change region on the Roku. I am done exactly as instructed and change the DSN settings on my UPC Horizon router but it made no difference. Unotelly only give the one DSN despite the horizon router having two, one which is empty. Any suggestions? Cheers.

Concannon7 · 15-04-2014 10:31PM

How are people watching the WWE Network outside of the US?

Loughc · 15-04-2014 10:36PM

Galway_mad_bhoy wrote: »

How are people watching the WWE Network outside of the US?

Unblock us will help and search through this thread it's been answered once or twice

The Ayatolla · 15-04-2014 11:09PM

400k domestic buys and well over 600k network subscribers for Wrestlemania.

Very successful outing all round.

jaykhunter · 15-04-2014 11:53PM

I'd believe the Network subs number but I can't stress enough that the PPV buys number is just an estimate - the actual PPV number won't be out for months. There'll be more concrete figures at the next shareholder's meeting. The problem is that people only remember the initial estimate thrown out, like that embarrassing 1.9 million WM28 was alleged to have done. That number was still being updated in October (it ended up as 1.219m)

A Primal Nut · 16-04-2014 03:38AM

True, if it is close to 400,000 it's really good news for them as it means the network and PPV can live side by side for a while so the whole thing is less of a risk, and slowly those 400,000 will move over.

That said, it makes it more important that they keep on good terms with the PPV providers for the time being.

Loughc · 16-04-2014 07:55AM

A Primal Nut wrote: »

True, if it is close to 400,000 it's really good news for them as it means the network and PPV can live side by side for a while so the whole thing is less of a risk, and slowly those 400,000 will move over.

That said, it makes it more important that they keep on good terms with the PPV providers for the time being.

They must be feeling nervous now if the Direct TV rumours are to be believed!

The Ayatolla · 16-04-2014 08:09AM

Loughc wrote: »

They must be feeling nervous now if the Direct TV rumours are to be believed!

It just means that more of the 400,000 will subscribe to the network.

Agent Coulson · 16-04-2014 08:51AM

The Ayatolla wrote: »

It just means that more of the 400,000 will subscribe to the network.

Not really Wrestlemaina is a once a year event for a lot of people. They may not watch wrestling at all for the rest of the year.

The 400K that watched it on PPV is no guarantee that 400k will now go out and get the Network. I'd say they would be luck to get a quarter of them to sign up for the Network.

If you are going to say that 400K who didn't watch it on the Network will now sign up. I have to ask why haven't the 4 to 6 million people who watch RAW week in week out on USA not signed up yet? If it is such a great deal.

Don't get me wrong I think at $9.99 it is a great deal, But the WWE and the rest of the world won't know if it will succed till this time next year after Wrestlemaina 31 when they see the drop off for the Summer or uptake after the first six months.

The Ayatolla · 16-04-2014 09:58AM

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Not really Wrestlemaina is a once a year event for a lot of people. They may not watch wrestling at all for the rest of the year.

The 400K that watched it on PPV is no guarantee that 400k will now go out and get the Network. I'd say they would be luck to get a quarter of them to sign up for the Network.

If you are going to say that 400K who didn't watch it on the Network will now sign up. I have to ask why haven't the 4 to 6 million people who watch RAW week in week out on USA not signed up yet? If it is such a great deal.

Don't get me wrong I think at $9.99 it is a great deal, But the WWE and the rest of the world won't know if it will succed till this time next year after Wrestlemaina 31 when they see the drop off for the Summer or uptake after the first six months.

Don't think I said the 400k would sign up, that would be ridiculous. I said that more of the 400k would sign up, due to their provider not offering them PPV's in future. They'll have to explore other options, the network being the most viable at the moment.

If Sky dropped WWE PPV's in the morning, you can bet there'd be a spike in Network sign ups. (Obviously with the VPN workaround, but lets imagine this is 2015 when signing up in the UK is a breeze).

Beefy78 · 16-04-2014 11:30AM

Exactly. If people are willing to drop $50 on a second tier PPV then chances are they'll be willing to drop $60 on six month's access to the Network. PPV-providers dropping WWE events will drive Network subscriptions.

Agent Coulson · 16-04-2014 11:51AM

660,000 odd people signed up for the Network so far. Of that an estimated 10/15% are International sign up's so take away about 100K to get the real US numbers. So the WWE hits 50/55% of it's target in the first few weeks. That does sound very impressive. But what they had going for them was Wrestlemaina of which the streaming ran prefect.

Now the big question is can the Network hold the attention of the casual fan the ones who only buy Wrestlemaina PPV's. Will these people be prepared to pay out $10 dollars a month for now to get the PPV's they never bought anyway.

I think the Network will struggle and it may take a few years for it to break even. Streaming Companies Netflix/Hulu and Networks like WWE you can include HBO in this for the International market are only in there infancy and trying to get the average person/family to move from 50 years of cable/satellite will be very hard.

There is a reason Vince and the WWE don't want want to lose tv in the US or Worldwide it's is a security blanket in case they don't reach there targets. No matter what anyone say Vince and the WWE won't be happy at all lossing a PPV outlet from Direct TV or anyone. Because simply if the Network does fail and he needs to go back to PPV even in the short term Those operaters have them over a barrel on what % they will want from the revenue.

I don't want the Network to fail no wrestling fan does but you have to look at it from a business stand point first not a fans.

jaykhunter · 16-04-2014 11:53AM

If WrestleMania for $10 wasn't enough to get people with the capability of ordering the network to sign, that's that. I hope for WWE's sake people chose expensive convenience over a great deal. Nobody's buying the network for Legend's House or new content... A bigger worry is that how many people will unsubscribe around SummerSlam. Say if WWE are booking Kane Bryan or Wyatt Bryan they might just forego it til Mania31

Agent Coulson · 16-04-2014 11:53AM

The Ayatolla wrote: »

Don't think I said the 400k would sign up, that would be ridiculous.

You are right it missread the post.

Late night early morning start.

The Ayatolla · 16-04-2014 12:13PM

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Now the big question is can the Network hold the attention of the casual fan the ones who only buy Wrestlemaina PPV's. Will these people be prepared to pay out $10 dollars a month for now to get the PPV's they never bought anyway.

Maybe they wouldn't buy it for $40 each, but $10 is much much better value. Plus you get all the extra stuff added in.

The next 2-3 PPV's will be the test to see how it goes.

I wouldn't be so pessimistic yet. There's also the international market to come for a full launch, that will be no small number.

Can we all just not hope for the best and hope this continues, gets better as it goes on, and we all get the PPV's for cheap?

Agent Coulson · 16-04-2014 12:15PM

Beefy78 wrote: »

Exactly. If people are willing to drop $50 on a second tier PPV then chances are they'll be willing to drop $60 on six month's access to the Network. PPV-providers dropping WWE events will drive Network subscriptions.

These people are probably already the ones who have signed up to the Network already. If you look at the average numbers of the second teir PPV's they vey rarely these days get numbers over 500K anyway. So my guess and it is only a guess is the 500K who signed up stateside are more than likely the ones who would buy every PPV anyway.

The WWE want the people who don't only buy the second teir PPV's they want the fans that only buy the big 4 to sign up as well. If they couldn't get it for Wrestlemaina 30 they will probably struggle for a long time yet untill they can spark a fresh wrestling boom.

The Ayatolla · 16-04-2014 12:17PM

You could also argue that the 400k consists of a majority of "hardcore" fans who wouldn't risk the stream crashing for the biggest PPV of the year.

Agent Coulson · 16-04-2014 12:20PM

The Ayatolla wrote: »

You could also argue that the 400k consists of a majority of "hardcore" fans who wouldn't risk the stream crashing for the biggest PPV of the year.

That's very true but ask then how many of them already had signed up to the Network anyway. Plenty even on here who got the Network were still willing to get Sky just in case the the streaming crashed. So that alone is double payment from a number of people and then buy rate numbers a skewed.

JrdanB · 16-04-2014 12:28PM

I didn't get the network purely because I didn't want wrestlemania to crash - paid the €25 to UPC instead - I'll probably sign up in the next few days though!

I assume I'm not in a unique situation

jaykhunter · 16-04-2014 01:41PM

The Ayatolla wrote: »

You could also argue that the 400k consists of a majority of "hardcore" fans who wouldn't risk the stream crashing for the biggest PPV of the year.

Assuming the ~million is correct, that's the regular number of people watching WrestleMania every year now. How many would've said "no" to the network back in the first 6 weeks of launch, and actually considered the Mania stream crashing as the main reason why not? I think that number'd be minuscule.

I know it's a streaming service, but for niche stuff like wrestling, I'd wager it'd go much like videogames and movies sales/tickets, the absolute majority'd get it in the first 2 weeks. Of course they'll get a bump when it (legitimately) opens to new areas but that's about that for America.

"Plenty even on here" - we're the absolute minority, the hardest of hardcore fans. We chat wrestling daily. We're not like the 'normies' - It's a skewed view here!

Monokne · 16-04-2014 10:11PM

jaykhunter wrote: »

I'd believe the Network subs number but I can't stress enough that the PPV buys number is just an estimate - the actual PPV number won't be out for months. There'll be more concrete figures at the next shareholder's meeting. The problem is that people only remember the initial estimate thrown out, like that embarrassing 1.9 million WM28 was alleged to have done. That number was still being updated in October (it ended up as 1.219m)

The number they announced was 1.3 million, not 1.9 million. They at that point believed they'd done slightly over 1.25 so could round up to 1.3 especially factoring in late adjustments, however the adjustments brought it down.

If they're claiming 400,000 the real number will still be between 350 & 450,000 so whatever way you slice it, as long as international is not substantially down(my guess is 10%) then this is a real positive for them.

rovert · 16-04-2014 11:20PM

The Ultimate Warrior Greatest Matches is a weird one.

Obviously Kevin Dunn didn't produce this as they used camera phone level videos from various Wrestlers giving tributes to Warrior.

The Warrior-DiBiase Japan match was being heckled and NOT chanted/cheered in reality.

jaykhunter · 17-04-2014 12:58AM

Monokne wrote: »

The number they announced was 1.3 million, not 1.9 million. [...]

Go google search WrestleMania 27 1.9 million buys for me.
ESPN guy reported it, it flew around the internet, and forego the actual number. That's my problem, inaccurate news is all people remember. WWE are announcing whatever they like to get people to forget this Network 667k and 8 dollars stock price drop.

Ape Lincoln · 17-04-2014 01:02AM

Paul Heyman owns on the Wrestlemania Fallout promo!

Jericho vs HBK Rewind was good.

Monokne · 17-04-2014 06:00AM

jaykhunter wrote: »

Go google search WrestleMania 27 1.9 million buys for me.
ESPN guy reported it, it flew around the internet, and forego the actual number. That's my problem, inaccurate news is all people remember. WWE are announcing whatever they like to get people to forget this Network 667k and 8 dollars stock price drop.

There's a strong difference between one single erroneous report from an ESPN reporter and the number WWE gives out themselves. I would be it's closer to 350,000 than 400,000 but it's not going to be much lower than that.

The network subs have been poor and no doubt they rushed this news out to help the ailing stock. Regardless, it is certainly a positive sign for them as it would indicate the network may not be cannabalizing as much revenue as thought, ergo the break even could be lower.

WWE Network Thread

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