WWE Network Sammelthread

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We've noted how the WWE Network will likely end up being a premium subscription service. WWE and TV industry sources report that they are looking at going with a price point of $10 per month.

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Sources close to the WWE Network report that officials are looking to hold Network-exclusive Supershow events in places like the UK and other countries overseas.

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WWE is currently in negotiations with at least one investment company about partnering up for the WWE Network. Word is that people will be stunned when they find out the current programming vision, which has reportedly changed greatly.

WWE rarely takes on partners in their business ventures because Vince McMahon doesn't like answering to other people and has a joke about how they don't play well with others.

In the negotiations, WWE is pushing that the Network would have extremely low programming costs compared to other networks since the bulk of the programming would be their old wrestling tape library that they own and don't have to buy any licensing fees for.

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WWE CFO George Barrios spoke to 4-Traders.com today and revealed some new details on the WWE Network. Notably, the subscription will run $12.99-14.99 per month, the break-even point for WWE is around 1 million subscribers and the company will eventually phase out pay-per-view events entirely. Here's the full transcript of what Barrios said about:

Where WWE's Future Growth Will Come From:

"Well, over the last few years our core business has been performing well. We generate $75 million to $95 million of EBITDA. Those EBITDA margins have been 16% to 19% so the core business performed well. We have invested a lot in the last couple of years to take advantage some of that growth that we see. And the big strategic thesis for us is the value of content. There is more and more distribution alternatives available. Netflix is one everyone talks about. YouTube not being part of just social video but now real original content. So there's more and more distribution alternatives and it's on a global basis. As a content creator and owner, which makes us unique, we own 100% of the rights of our content. We license them out, we'll license windows but we own it all. And that's a unique position to be in. We think the rising distribution opportunity is driving up the valley of content. In fact, you look at what HBO does to produce Game of Thrones, right? You're talking $10 million to $20 million an episode for 13 hours, right. So now you're in the $150 million to $200 million. That's incredible value. Raw and SmackDown are two franchised programs, average more viewers than any cable network average of prime time. So USA is a number one cable network in the US. It averages about 3 million viewers a week in prime time. Raw and SmackDown, our two top programs, averages more than that. We create a lot of value with the content. That's going to be a big driver for growth."

How WWE Will Monetize The Network & The Break-Even Point:

"Sure. So on the first part, continuing on with our core products, we're going to keep them fully distributed. We think that's a great platform for a network. And we think there's a lot of value as those shows come up for renewal. Our four biggest contracts will be renewed over the next three years. We think that's a great opportunity for us because of the value we deliver. Then to the network, we said we're going to take our pay-per-views. We're one of the preeminent pay-per-view providers today and our pay-per-views are priced anywhere between $49.95 and $59.95 today and we're going to make that the core of a value proposition with a lot of other new content and put it on a premium network so that our fans can subscribe. We said the price will be somewhere between $12.99 or $14.99, to be determined as we go to market but we think that's a real great opportunity. And to your question about breakeven, about a million subscribers because the pay-per-view buyers will migrate over to the network. That's our belief. About a million subscribers, we breakeven at 2 million, it's a really good business; at 3 million to 4 million, for us it's transformative."

Will WWE's Pay-Per-View Business Eventually Go Away?

"We believe over time. We believe the value proposition will be much more powerful to subscribe to a network at $12.99 to $14.99, 24/7, you have the pay-per-views, a lot of great content, our library, a lot of retrospective programming that we're doing that's testing really, really well, we're producing it right now so over time, I think the pay-per-view does go away."

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WWE's CFO George Barrios gave a presentation at the Citi Global Consumer Conference in New York City. Here's what he said about the WWE Network, courtesy of PWInsider.com:

"The program grid for the network will center around our monthly Pay-Per-Views [except WrestleMania], so those will become the culminating events of storylines and so on. We are also going to create retrospective content from our library. So that's not just running library footage. That's creating kind of compelling stories around past areas of WWE.

So for example one of the series that we've created is called the Monday Night War, so it's takes a look back at both what's happened inside the ring and outside the ring when Vince McMahon and Ted Turner were battling in the late 90s, so that will be a 15 episode series thereabouts and it's tested really well. So that's an example of content of mining our library.

What we are also going to do in the original content, I mean for example we announced a reality series with E! recently called Total Divas, it's a reality series anchored around our Diva superstars, so we know we can create reality series. I think you would see things like that on the network.

So it will be a different flavour than RAW and SmackDown, which will be our anchored program and broadcast lively. The network will be for those hard core casual may be some less fans to get that little bit extra at a price front that we think is just a lot more interesting than that $45 or $55 monthly [PPV price], which we think is just tougher for big player to consume."

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Wie WrestlingNewsWorld berichtet, soll sich Vince McMahon nun den Zeitraum um WrestleMania XXX als "Do or Die" Termin für den Start ihres geplanten TV-Senders "WWE Network" gesetzt haben. Sollte spätestens im März 2014 von Analysten noch immer kein größeres Interesse am WWE Network vorausgesagt werden, soll das Projekt "WWE Network" als gescheitert angesehen und stillschweigend eingestellt werden.

Doch bevor man dieses Projekt endgültig aufgeben will, möchte man innerhalb der nächsten Monate noch einmal alle Register ziehen und versuchen, mit dem WWE Programm kräftig durchzustarten, um genug Käufer für das "WWE Network" zu finden. So soll besonders Vince McMahon derzeit sehr experimentierfreudig sein und versuchen, die Leute durch diverse Face- und Heelturns seiner WWE Superstars sowie starken Storylines zum Einschalten zu bewegen, um neue Fans zu gewinnen.

Ob das "WWE Network" tatsächlich im kommenden Frühjahr an den Start gehen wird, bleibt abzuwarten.

(Quelle: WrestlingNewsWorld)

Das mit dem WWE Network wird wohl nichts mehr werden. Das dauert nun schon alles viel zu lange, ohne das wirklich mal was passiert. Es müsste schon ein Wunder geschehen, sollte das WWE Network tatsächlich im Frühjahr 2014 an den Start gehen. Und selbst dann ist die Gefahr eines Flops noch sehr groß ...

Wie Dave Scherer vom PWInsider berichtet, soll der Start vom bereits seit langer Zeit geplanten WWE Network laut einer internen WWE Quelle für Montag, den 24. Februar 2014 - einen Tag nach dem WWE Elimination Chamber 2014 Pay-Per-View - anvisiert werden, um auf der finalen "Road To WrestleMania XXX" möglichst viele interessierte Zuschauer anlocken zu können.

Zwar wartet Dave Scherer vom PWInsider noch auf eine Bestätigung dieses Datums durch eine zweite interne WWE Quelle, allerdings wurde ihm bereits von mehreren WWE Quellen berichtet, dass das WWE Network definitiv im ersten Quartal des Jahres 2014 an den Start gehen soll.

(Quelle: PWInsider)

Wäre klasse, denn dann hätte das ewige hin und her um das WWE Network endlich mal ein Ende und man könnte auf der "Road To WrestleMania XXX", wenn eh die Zuschauerzahlen steigen, für das neue WWE Network gut werben. Ob es dann ein Erfolg oder ein Flop wird, wird man dann sehen.

Mal abwarten, ob man das WWE Network zu diesem Zeitpunkt auch tatsächlich starten wird. Könnte mir auch vorstellen, dass man es erneut verschieben wird.

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WWE issued a statement today in response to a report on Saturday by PWInsider.com indicating that the WWE Network could launch as early as February 24, 2014 (according to a source in the organization).

"As discussed on WWE's last earnings call, we continue to aggressively pursue the launch of a WWE Network in 2014 via traditional and non-traditional distribution models; however no launch date has been confirmed," a spokesman stated to the website.

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The New York Post has an article up suggesting that Vince McMahon and Stephanie McMahon are sending mixed signals to investors regarding the WWE Network. They point out that Stephanie told attendees at a Multichannel News event last week that they were targeting the first quarter of 2014 for a Network launch. Vince then told investors at the earnings call on Thursday that no date has been settled on. Representatives for the WWE Network reiterated to the Post that no date has been confirmed for the launch.

In einem Memo wurde am vergangenen Wochenende offiziell verkündet, dass der "WWE CLASSICS ON DEMAND" Service zum 31. Januar 2014 eingestellt wird:

“As of January 31, 2014, WWE CLASSICS ON DEMAND will no longer be available as a monthly subscription service. This is not a choice made by Mediacom, but rather a business decision made by the WWE in order to focus on other programming content.”

Dies könnte ein Hinweis auf den baldigen Start vom WWE Network sein, den die WWE bekanntlich laut Gerüchten für Montag, den 24. Februar 2014 - einen Tag nach dem WWE Elimination Chamber 2014 Pay-Per-View - anvisiert, um auf der finalen "Road To WrestleMania XXX" möglichst viele interessierte Zuschauer anlocken zu können.

(Quelle: PWInsider / LoP)

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- WWE sent this the following this afternoon in regards to the cancellation of Classics On Demand:

“Beginning February 2014, WWE will no longer offer WWE Classics On Demand, our subscription video-on demand content delivered through cable television providers, as we are focusing our resources on other initiatives. As communicated on our recent earnings call, we continue to aggressively pursue launching a WWE Network; however, no launch date has been set.”

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- We noted before that people within WWE are under the impression that the WWE Network will finally launch before WrestleMania XXX. Very few people internally are aware of any details past the point that WWE is shooting a lot of footage for the Network but nobody has been told when it would be airing.

One source notes that WrestleMania XXX is strongly being talked about as a way to lure people to sign up for the Network, with the idea that they can get a huge amount of sign-ups immediately if people realize they can get WrestleMania in HD for "free" by signing up for a $9.95 per month program that comes with a lot more WWE content.

The hope is if fans sign up, most won’t cancel, will like what content is offered including the monthly PPV "for free," and it won’t be a slow growth but an instant hit.

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- Monthly price points for the WWE Network that have been discussed are $9.95, $12.95 or $14.95. Regarding WWE giving away WrestleMania XXX for free this year to help with Network sign-ups, they likely would not be giving away WrestleMania every year.

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WrestleZone.com is reporting that WWE has a targeted launch date of February 24th for the WWE Network, which is the day after the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. This confirms a previous report from PWInsider.com, but LaBar's sources provided him with a few extra tidbits about the Network:

- Initial price point will be in the $10-$12 a month range, with the sign-up being for six months.

- You'll be able to watch WrestleMania 30 on the Network, with the plan still being the reported "every non-WrestleMania pay-per-view airing on the Network in the future".

- It won't be a channel on television, but an app-like service along the lines of Netflix that you'll be able to watch online and on devices like smart TVs, PS3, PS4, X-Box 360, X-Box one, and so on.

- There will be a live, 24/7 stream of content on the Network, which is the thing that will separate it from apps like Netflix, which focuses more on-demand viewing. However, on-demand viewing will still be a part of the Network, as the entire library of Raw and Smackdown episodes, as well as pay-per-views, will be available to watch at launch.

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- Regarding reports going around online about WWE Network details, WWE issued the following statement this morning:

"In addition to not being able to confirm timing of WWE Network launch, WWE is still considering all options for distribution, pricing and role of pay-per-view."