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WWE Network finally happening


flyonthewall2983

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So amongst the stories I've been reading about the announcement, a lot of people are seeing this as a huge win for a la carte content and the $10/month mark might make other networks interested in a similar service wake up and take notice. The next shoe to drop would be the networks finding out a way to offer their services through the apps they've developed without the need for any provider to sign up. Considering HBO has been talking with both Apple and Google, many think they'll be next.

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So amongst the stories I've been reading about the announcement, a lot of people are seeing this as a huge win for a la carte content and the $10/month mark might make other networks interested in a similar service wake up and take notice. The next shoe to drop would be the networks finding out a way to offer their services through the apps they've developed without the need for any provider to sign up. Considering HBO has been talking with both Apple and Google, many think they'll be next.

Only reason I even have a service provider at this point is to keep up with boxing through HBO and Showtime. But if there were something like HBOGo with live streaming, and the option of getting Showtime Anytime (which already has live streaming) without having to have cable/satellite subscriptions, I would have abandoned my provider a long time ago.

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If this is going to cut down on piracy, this full year until this network launches in Canada is going to stink.

I kind of expect it to have the opposite effect, as people will find a way to rip the higher quality stuff off the Network and then it'll filter out to the torrent sites. That's just an observation though because I plan to give them my money for the Network as soon as they'll let me.
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The key to all of this is that WWE is a self-contained world. Outside of WrestleMania, which draws in casual viewers, they don't need much promotion. They do enough promotion on their own programming.

 

The cable companies have acted for years simply as the distribution channel and have collected hundreds of millions of dollars because of it. A lot of these giant cable companies don't make enormous profits. The WWE ppvs were a consistent revenue stream which required little to no effort on their part. I can certainly understand why a DirectTV would be pissed. However, they had an ample opportunity to get in on the ground floor with the network and chose not to.

 

Can't wait for the hypothetical Raw Post-Show hosted by the Miz...for when 3 hours of live programming just isn't enough wrestling.

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Direct TV is talking about dropping WWE ppvs, taking a shot at the company in the process.

"Clearly we need to quickly re-evaluate the economics and viability of their business with us, as it now appears the WWE feels they do not need their PPV distributors," DirecTV said in a statement, adding that the audience for its events "has been steadily declining, and this new low-cost competitive offering will only accelerate this trend."

 

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envel...y#axzz2q0aH1oie

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I also honestly think a lot of piracy comes out of the UK.

Actually I do see a lot of WWE and UFC stuff that says Sky Sports.

 

Matt D is right.

 

The actual rough breakdown is streams and downloads of Raws and PPVs tend to come from Sky Sports in the UK. Smackdown comes from Sky Sports in Dubai or Australia as it airs first there.

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TNA actually beats out WWE in the ratings in the UK, which suggests supports evidence that a lot of people pirate Raw & Smackdown over here. TNA is on free TV and on at primetime rather than the early hours of the morning. Plus there is extremely high speed internet everywhere which probably helps make the decision to watch online; is that the case in the USA as well? If not, could explain the geographical inequality of the streams.

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PWInsider:

 

The WWE roster has been informed that Vince McMahon will be meeting with them this Monday at Raw in Providence, Rhode Island to discuss the launch of the WWE Network and how this will change the company's landscape going forward.

A number of talents we've spoken with are most interested in how the Network launching will change the bonuses they receive for PPVs as well as royalties for DVDs the company releases.

 

Since Wrestlemania will be the first PPV featured on the Network and is traditionally the biggest check of the year for talents, obviously they are concerned they could be losing out on a major payday.

Also Wade Keller said that he was of the belief the WWE talent contract only covered merchandise as in tangible/physical objects. So talent as it stands aren't entitled to Spotify type royalties rates.

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I also honestly think a lot of piracy comes out of the UK.

Actually I do see a lot of WWE and UFC stuff that says Sky Sports.

 

Not to go off on a tangent, but does anyone have any sense of why that is? Cable provider feeds easier to rip there?

 

EDIT: saw anarchist's posts - there's plenty of high speed internet in the US, so unless the UK internet is way faster than we can imagine here, not sure that would explain the difference.

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Dave in the WWE/DirecTV thread at the F4W board:

 

You're all missing the big picture here.

 

If DirecTV, inDemand and Dish continue to carry WWE, it's a signal to UFC and boxing to undercut the PPV price themselves on the web, because WWE will have set the precedent.

 

UFC, for example, can put HD PPV's on the web for $40, and keep all $40. Right now they, WWE & boxing are contractually prohibited to do this. If WWE thumbs its nose at the contract and gets away, the other two will follow suit.

 

With a lower price offering and more money to the promoter, while they will still need TV, whatever leverage all PPV providers carry will be gone.

 

To everyone, it appears McMahon's moves are making UFC look bad, but they are all the greatest thing for UFC. They'll become more valuable in PPV than ever before. If the WWE thing works, they'll just follow the trend and it's no risk. If WWE fails, they've avoided the same failure.

 

Exact same business and learn from their mistakes. Plus, UFC big shows right now are so much more valuable than WWE big shows, if they get into the same game a year later, it's not like they'll be too late.

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Hey! That's not a big picture I care about. I mean it is, if DirectTV thinks it's the big picture too and will show a level of brinkmanship that they wouldn't have otherwise and we get some awesome Vince attitude on TV. Part of me thinks that there's almost no better way to drive people to the WWE Network than having DirectTV no longer show PPVs.

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This was quite the gem in the LA Times:

 

"While a more traditional channel could ensure a certain level of distribution, McMahon, chairman of WWE, said in an interview that the terms pay-TV distributors wanted in return for carrying a WWE channel were 'too restrictive.'

 

McMahon said WWE had deals ready to go with major distributors for a network that would have generated fees of 20 cents per month, per subscriber.

 

'I said, much to the chagrin of my staff, I'm not going to sign it,' McMahon said."

 

(http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-wwe-network-20140108,0,2623775.story#axzz2pu5QUWTt)

 

I love how WWE is completely spinning the development of the Network, and the press just takes them at their word.

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I also honestly think a lot of piracy comes out of the UK.

Actually I do see a lot of WWE and UFC stuff that says Sky Sports.

 

Not to go off on a tangent, but does anyone have any sense of why that is? Cable provider feeds easier to rip there?

 

EDIT: saw anarchist's posts - there's plenty of high speed internet in the US, so unless the UK internet is way faster than we can imagine here, not sure that would explain the difference.

 

Just guessing, but given the shows finish at 4am over here, it may make it easier to either set a file transcoding or upload it to a torrent site at that time given there's less demand on the broadband network and you aren't likely to need to use the computer yourself.

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If this is going to cut down on piracy, this full year until this network launches in Canada is going to stink.

I kind of expect it to have the opposite effect, as people will find a way to rip the higher quality stuff off the Network and then it'll filter out to the torrent sites. That's just an observation though because I plan to give them my money for the Network as soon as they'll let me.

 

I don't know if they will stop the pirating, because pirating is just easier sometimes, but I think they will be able to convert free streamers into $10 PPV customers. Granted, the people might download the show after anyway, but it will help a bit in that department. I don't think that pirating is that bad sometimes anyway as I'd rather have people watching my stuff for free than have them not watching it period.

 

The first thing a lot of people are going to be doing is finding ways to rip stuff, if for no reason than their own personal collections. Perfect quality full seasons of Raw and SD would be highly sought after stuff. However, I still don't believe WWE will give everything away like they claim they will. I can totally see them choosing select episodes of Raw and SD, maybe 10 a year or so and rolling with that. Or they will find some way to package the Raw/SD eps in a "best of" manner. They've never released any full seasons to prove to me otherwise. They also can get away with no releasing full seasons of anything.

 

On the overseas releases of footage:

I don't have any facts to prove this but it does seem the biggest collectors of genre's of pirated stuff often comes from other countries. American's have pirated puro that the Japanese couldn't even dream of having. The biggest uploaders of wrestling footage do seem to come from the UK too.

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