A Demand for a Comprehensive PPV Buyrate List

[Guest Nell Santucci]

I don't have 94 Observers but I would guess it was the Taker vs Taker match. While the match sucked, it was a very unique build and I'm guessing it was different enough that people wanted to see which was the "real" Taker.

I remember Brian Lee's Undertaker being several inches shorter than the Mark Calaway's Undertaker, so it surprises me that the angle got over so well. But I think a large part of the draw is just the fact that it'd be the Undertaker's first match in 8 months. He was a good draw at the time as his feud with Yokozuna did a good house.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMszMuerW5w

 

It's hilarious in that Lee sounded nothing like him.

 

 

It's nuts to think they had Tatanka do a clean job to get him over, as I thought Tatanka was not only one of their protected faces but was also in a program to go against Lex Luger over DiBiase. Lawler's anti-Tatanka remarks are legitimately funny.

 

 

Lawler's just too funny. It's unfortunate that he just no longer has his wits about him. Calling the fans who questioned the "Undertaker"'s identity "Doubting Thomas'" had me laughing.

[Matt D]

I'm really curious about the 92 Bash relative to Beach Blast. it was a Tag Tournament with much less heated stuff top to bottom than Beach Blast, and Vader vs Sting on top which WAS fresh and built off a strong Vader attack on Sting.

[Guest Nell Santucci]

I'm really curious about the 92 Bash relative to Beach Blast. it was a Tag Tournament with much less heated stuff top to bottom than Beach Blast, and Vader vs Sting on top which WAS fresh and built off a strong Vader attack on Sting.

Let me try and get those numbers later today.

[JerryvonKramer]

92 WCW has got to have the biggest gap between PPV quality and audience numbers in history.

 

I seem to recall Beach Blast has Steiners vs. Gordy and Williams on last though, not any of the matches you'd expect.

[WingedEagle]

Correct, they closed it with that rather than Sting vs. Cactus or Steamer/Rude. I wonder if they had to guarantee the MVC a couple main events as part of bringing them over.

[JerryvonKramer]

Watts had a major major *major* hardon for Gordy and Williams.

 

I'd argue they are the most pushed to the moon tagteam in any major promotion ever -- and that includes Road Warriors in the 80s.

 

Bash 92 is a tournament for the newly made NWA Tag Titles, MVC were ALREADY WCW tag champs and they basically romp through that tournament and win those belts too.

 

I'm not sure if Gordy and Williams ate a pin to anyone in that 6 months. Monster team of all monster teams.

 

Still, never really understood why Watts had them going on last all the time.

 

It's a weird period. Ron Simmons is champ for much of 92 and he hardly ever headlined any of the shows.

[Dooley]

 

It's nuts to think they had Tatanka do a clean job to get him over, as I thought Tatanka was not only one of their protected faces but was also in a program to go against Lex Luger over DiBiase. Lawler's anti-Tatanka remarks are legitimately funny.

That also played in to Tatanka joining DiBiase at Summerslam. It makes sense that he'd "lie down" for Dibiase's Taker leading up to the event in exchange for the money.

[Matt D]

92 WCW has got to have the biggest gap between PPV quality and audience numbers in history.

 

I seem to recall Beach Blast has Steiners vs. Gordy and Williams on last though, not any of the matches you'd expect.

I've been watching WCW Pro Chicago. They were calling Steamboat vs Rude the main event and I don't think Steiners vs Gordy/Williams got much of any build at all on the C show.

 

The first few months of 92 is one of my key watching times as a kid, but I stopped watching halfway through the year. I didn't realize Vader was such a transitional champion.

[JerryvonKramer]

It was a key period for me too. Do you remember when the Dangerous Alliance were all in tuxedos that one night? I remember swaggering around my room pretending I was one of them. Just the coolest fucking stable ever. I also remember the Jesse Ventura arm wrestling tournament with Ice Train being a big part of it.

 

Seriously though, I loved the Dangerous Alliance so much -- just loved Arn Anderson and Rick Rude. Wanted to see that Wargames so much, but we never got to see it.

 

Something weird happened and our TV fastforwarded about 5 or 6 months in the space of a week so we went from the summer of 92 to sometime in 93 with Flair for the Gold and Bagwell and Scorpio being pushed.

[Jmare007]

After listening to the PTB podcasts with Kevin Kelly and the Rumble 99'. I'm really curious about St. Valentine's Day Massacre numbers. They were on a roll at the time and that was the ultimate Vince vs Austin match on PPV.

[Matt D]

It was a key period for me too. Do you remember when the Dangerous Alliance were all in tuxedos that one night? I remember swaggering around my room pretending I was one of them. Just the coolest fucking stable ever. I also remember the Jesse Ventura arm wrestling tournament with Ice Train being a big part of it.

 

Seriously though, I loved the Dangerous Alliance so much -- just loved Arn Anderson and Rick Rude. Wanted to see that Wargames so much, but we never got to see it.

 

Something weird happened and our TV fastforwarded about 5 or 6 months in the space of a week so we went from the summer of 92 to sometime in 93 with Flair for the Gold and Bagwell and Scorpio being pushed.

The Paulies. Amazingly the DAs won them all.

[Jmare007]

- WWE released the number of preliminary PPV buys for WrestleMania 29. The preliminary number is 1,048,000 million buys according to WWE's latest monthly business figures released this week.

 

A breakdown of domestic and international PPV numbers was not included in the report. However, the event is likely to turn out to be the highest-grossing PPV event in WWE history because of the PPV price increase, more ways to watch the event, and a great proportion of higher-priced HD purchases over standard definition.

 

The final PPV buy total is said to be released in the Second Quarter 2013 earnings around August. Once all buys are accounted for, the final number will likely be rounded out to about 1.1 million buys.

 

Below is a comparison of WrestleMania PPV buys from the last five years:

 

2009 - 960,000 buys

2010 - 885,000 buys

2011 - 1,059,000 buys

2012 - 1,217,000 buys

2013 - 1,048,000 buys (prelim. figure)

[Guest Nell Santucci]

- WWE released the number of preliminary PPV buys for WrestleMania 29. The preliminary number is 1,048,000 million buys according to WWE's latest monthly business figures released this week.

 

A breakdown of domestic and international PPV numbers was not included in the report. However, the event is likely to turn out to be the highest-grossing PPV event in WWE history because of the PPV price increase, more ways to watch the event, and a great proportion of higher-priced HD purchases over standard definition.

 

The final PPV buy total is said to be released in the Second Quarter 2013 earnings around August. Once all buys are accounted for, the final number will likely be rounded out to about 1.1 million buys.

 

Below is a comparison of WrestleMania PPV buys from the last five years:

 

2009 - 960,000 buys

2010 - 885,000 buys

2011 - 1,059,000 buys

2012 - 1,217,000 buys

2013 - 1,048,000 buys (prelim. figure)

I'm glad that I was on the mark with buyrate predictions for Wrestlemania despite higher ratings this year to last year. That was an uninspiring card.

[mookeighana]

I, too, have long felt the pain of trying to extract credible information about number of PPV buys for historical events - especially anything prior to WWF going public.

 

One thing that has been exceptionally hard to track down is "total number of PPV capable homes" so there is some basis to try and convert a 1.0 buyrate into something meanful.

 

After an exhaustive search, I did come across a very useful table on page 871 (Appendix C) in "Stay Tuned: A History of American Broadcasting" which cites a "TV Dimensions 2000" study from Media Dimensions which in turn was based on a Statistical Research, Inc. "SMART TV Ownership Survey, Spring 1999". (If you go to the amazon page, do a "search inside" and type in "Kagan" you should find the table as the second hit.)

 

 

If I'm reading this table right and doing the multiplication of cable homes x PPV available, it would suggest PPV-capable homes were:

 

1985 5,451,000

1986 6,265,600

1987 7,504,200

1988 9,195,900

1989 13,666,900

1990 16,461,300

1991 20,082,960

1992 24,029,040

1993 28,240,320

1994 31,457,400

1995 31,478,000

1996 34,913,160

1997 36,260,950

1998 36,856,050

1999 39,752,040

 

Now, this doesn't include Satellite/DISH availablity.

 

This is generally in line with some of the other estimates of PPV availablity (addressible cable systems, as some publications called it). Here were some of the other datapoints I collected:

1982 (600,000 homes) - NYTimes 1/20/2000

1989 (11 million homes) - Time Magazine 3/6/1989

1991 (15 million homes)

1992 (20 million homes)

1992 (15.2 of 54.1 cable) - Paul Kagan in NY Times 1992

1992 (22 million homes) - addressable

2000 (45 million homes) - NYTimes 1/20/2000

2005 (53.5 million homes)

2007 (51.6 million units)

 

I also came across an interesting tidbit from Broadcasting Cable 5/6/2000 which listed the "Top pay-per-view events by Category (1990-1999)".

 

I was surprised to see Slamboree 1995 listed but Starrcade 1997 not.

 

Lastly, some other things I've seen:

* Wrestlemania IV had a reported 900,000 takers last March (the largest audience yet claimed for a PPV event) - Time magazine 3/6/1989

* Wrestlemania III = 520,000 buys = $10.3 million in PPV revenue - Reel of fortune: a discussion of the critical business and legal issues affecting film and television today (published 1987)

* Cable Vision 1993 - Titan Sports (1.5 to 2 buyrate for normal WWF events, 3 to 4 buyrate for Wrestlemania, WCW buyrate is 1 percent)

[JNLister]

The Broadcasting Cable list is utterly wacky. Slamboree 95 actually did a 0.57 buyrate, which would be a couple of hundred thousand. WrestleMania in 1998 is nowhere to be seen in the list.

 

What with WM7 being listed there, I suspect the real source is "claims by the promotion". Either that or Showtime Event Television (which was Showtime's PPV distribution right?) is extrapolating from its own numbers and they are so tiny as to make such extrapolation highly unreliable.

[Bix]

I just wanna know where Mookie is getting back issues of Broadcasting & Cable.

[mookeighana]

I just wanna know where Mookie is getting back issues of Broadcasting & Cable.

Saint Paul Public Library Research Portal.

 

Amazing amount of magazines and journals have been digitized and you can search keywords.

 

I found a trove of pieces from 1998-2002 just reliving the lawsuit to move RAW to TNN (including descriptions of USA pilots to replace RAW including a amazingly bad Nora Dunn pilot as a detective with mom instincts), PTC complaints, Bischoff is buying WCW wait nope he ain't and more. Biggest sources have been Electronic Media, Advertising Age (some Meltzer quotes), Broadcasting and Cable and the obscure ones like WWF buys a soundboard making a wacky trade journal. And able to get full text from random magazine articles like Forbes 1985 and Time magazine 1989 stories on PPV.

[Loss]

Awesome!

[mookeighana]

Some other tidbits I collected from Multichannel News and other magazines:

 

"WCW Starrcade (1997)- Up until the December 1997 Starrcade event, the Time Warner lnc.-owned World Championship Wrestling outfit was considered by most industry observers second fiddle to the World Wrestling Federation. But after ringing up 625,000 buys and grossing $18 million - and then following up with other impressive PPV performances, the WCW clearly established itself as a force to be reckoned with for the future." - Multichannel News , March 1 1999 (Best of the Rest)

 

"Bash at the Beach (1997) - 500,000 buys said Jay Hassman, PPV director at Time Warner Inc." - Multichannel News, July 20 1998 (Mailman Delivers for Cable PPV Managers.)

actual quote was " He predicted that the final tally (for 1998's Bash at the Beach) would indicate a total of around 600,000 buys. Hassman added that WCW was hoping only to match last year's Bash mark of 500,000 buys."

 

"Wrestlemania (1998) - Wrestlemania XIV event pulled in more than 700,000 buys, and that event still stands as the most successful PPV program of the year." - Multichannel News, June 22 1998

 

Halloween Havoc (1998) - 500k buys ".. bested WCW's previous high of approximately 500,000 buys, set in October (1998).. " - Multichannel News, Jan 12 1998

 

"The company is averaging between a 0.8 percent and a 0.9 percent, slightly above last year's figures." - regarding 1996 WCW PPV business, Multichannel News, Dec 2 1996

 

"Operators did say, however, that TitanSports' January WWF Royal Rumble (1995) and Turner Home Entertainment's February SuperBrawl V (1995) and March WCW Uncensored (1995) enjoyed moderate success." - Multichannel News, May 15 1995

 

Halloween havoc (1994): "Buoyed by the appearance of former World Wrestling Federation icon Hulk Hogan, Turner Home Entertainment's Oct. 20 Halloween Havoc drew nearly double the buy-rates normally associated with WCW events, operators said. Although Turner representatives could not be reached for comment, operators estimate the event, which featured Hogan and Ric Flair in a steel cage match, generated around a 1 percent buy-rate." -Multichannel News 10/31/94 (Turner wrestling scores)

 

Starrcade 1991: "Nationally, the event garnered a 1 percent buy-rate, according to industry sources." "Turner to try credit cards again." Multichannel News (April 20, 1992)

 

Halloween Havoc 1991: "..generated close to a 1 percent buy-rate" - "'Loyal' wrestling fans help Turner PPV event." Multichannel News 11/4/1992

 

"In fact, PPV wrestling accounted for approximately $72 million of the nearly $150 million generated by PPV events in 1990, said Sharon Sidello, vice president of PPV TV for Turner Home Entertainment. In the last few years, however, buy-rates for both WCW and WWF events have fallen. For example, 1991's Wrestlemania VII generated a 3.5 percent buy-rate, down from 1990's Wrestlemania VI's 4.5 percent buy-rate in 1990 and Wrestlemania V's 5.6 percent buy-rate in 1989. THE's Starcade series has also seen buy-rates fall from a 2 in 1989 to a 1.1 for last year's show, according to industry sources. Some industry observers point to an expansion of the PPV addressable universe as a reason for the shrinking buy-rates. But some operators finger the increase in prices for the events, particularly the WWF shows, as the primary cause of the decline. As buy-rates fell for Wrestlemania, the price rose from $24.95 for Wrestlemania V to $29.95 for Wrestlemania VI and VII. Similar patterns have occurred with SummerSlam (4.8 buy-rate at $18.50 in 1989, 4.3 buy-rate at $27.50 in 1990) and Royal Rumble (3.2 at $14.95 in 1989, 2.8 at $18 in 1990 and 2.2 at $22.50 in 1991)." - Multichannel News 12.n27 (July 8, 1991) "WWF, Turner wrestle with PPV problems"

 

Wrestlemania VII: "The event, which sold at a suggested retail of $29.95, generated around 800,000 buys and earned a preliminary buy-rate of 4.8 to 4.9 percent, said Skip Desjardin, manager of PPV marketing for Titan's World Wrestling Federation. But industry sources inside the PPV industry estimated Wrestlemania VII buy-rates at 3.5 to 4, probably closer to the lower number. Those sources said last year's Wrestlemania earned a 5.0. "We're happy with it," Desjardin said. "Anytime you generate $24 million (PPV revenues) in one day, it's positive." Desjardin added, however, that the event was down from last year's, which generated 825,000 buys, a 5 percent buy-rate." - April 8, 1991 (Multichannel News) "'Wrestlemania VII' buys down"

 

Summerslam 1991: "Skip Desjardin, manager of PPV marketing for TitanSports, estimated that the event garnered a "disappointing" 3.6 percent buy-rate, 15 percent lower than last year's national buy-rate. Despite the low buy-rate, Desjardin said, the event "still generated a large amount of money for the industry." At 608,000 buys, Titan would have grossed roughly $16.7 million.Another operator said the WWF has hiked prices 45 percent since 1988, when the event was $18.50" - 9/2/91 Multichannel News "SummerSlam' PPV buy-rates termed disappointing."

 

Wrestlemania VIII: "The event generated a "very preliminary" buy-rate of under 4 percent, said Skip Desjardin, manager of PPV marketing for Titan. He added that the event will most likely fall below last year's event from both revenue and total-buy standpoints, although Titan only had 400 out of more than 2,000 systems reporting at presstime. Wrestlemania VII generated around a 3.5 percent buy-rate, according to sources." - April 13 1992 (Multichannel News) 'Wrestlemania VIII' buys slump.

 

WBF: "The event, the first for Titan's recently created bodybuilding federation, generated a 0.1 to 0.2 percent buy-rate, with a number of systems reporting numbers below 0.1 percent, accordipg to operators." (Multichannel News, Titan WBF event offers little lift - June 22 1992)

 

Summerslam 1993: "The event generated a little less than a 2 percent buy-rate, operators said, which would place it slightly below the 2.3 percent the show earned last year." -Multichannel News (9/6/93) "SummerSlam stems buy-rate skid. "

 

Summerslam 1994: "Buy-rates for the event were up as much as 10 percent over last year, said Titan Sports. The event generated nearly 400,000 buys, slightly above the 360,000 buys the event drew in 1993, said Skip Desjardin, manager of PPV marketing for Titan. Operators pegged the buy-rate at about a 1 to a 1.5 percent." - Multichannel News (9/12/94) "Pizza pies help Titan 'SummerSlam' score dough."

 

Wrestlemania 7 & Wrestlemania 1994: "While Desjardin doesn't expect buys to reach the 764,000 record mark reached by Wrestlemania VII, he said they could surpass the 416,000 buys generated by last year's version (Wrestlemania 1994)." - "Titan custom-'Tayloring' latest wrestlemania." Multichannel News March 6, 1995

 

In your House: 1: "Skip Desjardin, vice president of PPV for TitanSports, which owns the WWF franchise, said buy-rates for In Your House managed to reach the 1 percent mark, generating approximately 200,000 to 225,000 buys." - May 29, 1995 ( WWF's 'House' surprises,) $14.95 price point, Multichannel News

 

IYH events prior to May 1996: Beware of Dog: "In Your House events -- which Titan introduced last year -- have averaged between 180,000 and 200,000 buys since the beginning of the year." - June 3 1996 (Multichannel News) - article is about Titan having to offer a different replay to make up for the feed getting screwed up and many providers expecting to refund the $19.95 to complaining customers

 

Wrestlemania 1998: "The WWF's March 28 "Wrestlemania XV" drew a wrestling-best 875,000 buys at $34.95 each -- which means the company earned more than $30 million in revenue from two hours of television." - Variety, June 19 1999 (Wrestling with Success)

 

Survivor Series 1992: "TitanSports' Nov. 25 Survivor Series World Wrestling Federation pay-per-view event could not stem the tide of declining buy-rates, which have fallen 30 percent below last year's figures. The event generated close to a 2 percent buy-rate, pinning down approximately 365,000 buys, said Skip Desjardin, manager of PPV marketing for Titan. He added that the event's performance was close to that of Titan's August SummerSlam PPV event and generally matched the company's 30 percent slide in buy-rates for all of its 1992 events." - Multichannel News, 12/21/92

 

Royal Rumble 1992: "Rumble's price went up from $22.95 to $24.95. The WWF said, however, that preliminary results show the event actually outgrossed last year's, partly on the strength of a price hike. Skip Desjardin, manager of PPV marketing for the WWF, admitted that Rumble's buy-rate was down from last year, but said the event increased the number of buys over last year, although it was too early to give specific numbers." - Multichannel News, Feb 3 1992

 

This Tuesday in Texas 1992: "However, operators also reported that buy-rates for the WWF's Nov. 27 Survivor Series - the ending of which was the basis for the This Tuesday in Texas second event six days later - were down slightly from last year's event. Operators were not allowed to promote Texas until after the conclusion of Survivor, which saw champion Hulk Hogan lose his title to The Undertaker. The WWF provided a promotional spot for the special event - the main feature of which was a rematch of the Hogan-Undertaker bout in which Hogan regained his title - immediately after Survivor. But Desjardin said subscribers were satisfied that they got their money's worth out of the Survivor event. He added that the WWF has no intentions of attempting another surprise event in the near future. ... [one person added that viewers] might have resented paying about $40 for the two events in less than a week." - Multichannel News, Dec 9 1991 (events were

27.95 price for Survivor and $12.95 for the WWF special event)

 

No Holds Barred: The Match/The Movie: "Viewer's Choice serves some 5.5 million addressable homes, over one-third of the addressable universe. Most of that 5.5 million total comes from the MSO's who own the service. The second-largest PPV service, Request, does not carry WWF events. Traditionally, WWF events have been one of PPV's leading revenue sources, but the overall revenue for the January event could be curtailed if major blocks of the industry do not carry it. DeVito said 6.2 million homes are currently under contract for the Jan. 21 event, and WWF expects to have 8 million by then. That is short of the 12 million to which the Dec. 27 event was available. Gross buys for the four showings of the movie and the event, DeVito estimated, was 300,000." - Broadcasting Jan 1 1990

 

Wrestlemania 4: "The third in the World Wrestling Federation's series may have been the charm, because last March's Wrestlemania IV showed NYT Cable PPV director Steve Rockabrand that "the product has reached the end of its competitive life cycle." The Cherry Hill, NJ system, which does sales of $6.50 per month per sub on its 62,000 PPV universe, reports its buy rate for the latest event fell four percentage points short of the 10.9% scored by Wrestlemania III. By WWF Count, Wrestlemania IV was available to 11.1 million PPV homes, with the previous record going to the WWF Survivor Series of last November. The federation estimates the buy rate on more than 700 systems which carried the event at 9.8%. For NYT's part, Rockabrand feels that newer PPV systems whose subscribers may not have had the exposure to the previous series may have done better than NYT's 6.9% at $19.95 a transaction. The current holder of the PPV crown at NYT is not Randy Savage, winner of the Wrestlemania contest, but rather Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray of Dirty Dnacing with 27.3% buy-rate. As for those who he expects to depose the reigning champs, Rockabrand hopes it will be Tyson-Spinks, although his system has yet to sign the deal." - Television/Radio Age, April 18, 1988

 

"The WWF reports that its revenue from pay-per-view events has been flat over the past five years, averaging about $25 million a year. The WCW's pay-per-view numbers have doubled since Hulk Hogan walked through the door last summer, but it's not clear that this kind of growth can continue. The WCW generated about $13 million from pay-per-view last year." - Viva Hulk! By: Kimelman, John, FW, 00152064, 2/14/95, Vol. 164, Issue 4 (Article opens with a BURIAL of Kevin Nash)

 

Wrestlemania IX: "Cable operators were not too disappointed with the performance of TitanSports Inc.'s April 4 Wrestlemania IX pay-per-view event despite the decline in its buy-rates from last year. Although the company did not have specific buy-rates for the event, Skip Desjardin, manager of PPV marketing for TitanSports, said the event's results will most likely be better than those of last January's Royal Rumble, which performed better than last November's Survivor Series." - April 12 1993, Multichannel News

 

1990 PPV Business: "Karpas added that despite the popularity of boxing and wrestling events on PPV, the buy-rates average only around 7 percent." - Feb 4 1991, Multichannel News

 

"McMahon's WWF is still bigger, grossing an estimated $84 million. Turner's executive producer Eric Bischoff, says, "My goal is to break $50 million." - Fortune, 10/16/95 (about Time Warner buying Turner Broadcasting and focuses that WCW may be a key asset) "Clinching the Deal: Hulk to Time Warner!"

 

March 2000: "WCW PPV events this year have averaged a 0.28 buy-rate, down about 50 percent from an 0.55 buy-rate in 1999. The 1999 buy-rate also fell about 50 percent from the 1.03 WCW pulled in 1998, according to the company." March 27, 2000 Multichannel News (WCW OVERHAULS PPV UNIT MANAGEMENT)

 

October 2000: "The disparity is even greater on the PPV side. The WWF averages around a 1.35 buy-rate on monthly events, while the WCW's buy-rates have been as low as 0.2 percent." - 10/9/2000 Multichannel News (WCW May Work with Rival.)

 

ECW Events as of 1999: "ECW currently averages around 70,000 to 75,000 buys per event, which pales in comparison with average six-figure buy numbers for the monthly PPV events staged by WCW and the WWF." - Acclaim's ECW deal includes equity piece., Multichannel News; 11/29/99, Vol. 20 Issue 49, p34, 2/7p

 

Backlash 2000 - "Operators reported that the WWF generated between 625,000 and 725,000 buys and more than $19 million in revenue for Backlash, which featured the return of popular wrestler Austin." - WWF Knocks Out Fight on PPV., Multichannel News; 05/08/2000, Vol. 21 Issue 19, p5, 2p, 1 Color Photograph

 

ECW Barely Legal: "A pay-per-view event, "Barely Legal," garnered 45,000 buys, and Extreme Championship Wrestling muscled its way into the big time. More PPV shows and 150 annual live arena events generated buzz on the Internet among wrestling fans." - from a "The Marketing 100" in Advertising Age, 6/26/2000, Vol. 71 Issue 27, ps33, 1/5p

 

2001 PPV results: "Showtime recently released a survey called “The Pay-Per-View Industry Review & Digital Cable PPV Study 2001.” Key findings include: Fifty million, or nearly half of all U.S. TV homes, have access to PPV—two-thirds of those via satellite or digital cable.

WWF events on the Top 10 PPV events list

#1 Wrestlemania X-Seven April 1 $27,965,000

#4 No Way Out Feb. 25 $16,173,000,

#6 Royal Rumble, Jan. 21, $15,574,000

#7 Summerslam, Aug. 19, $14,226,250

#7 Unforgiven, Sept. 23, $14,226,250

#9 Survivor Series , Nov. 18 $13,178,000" - "Wrestling and boxing bring 'em to the mat. By: Phipps, Jennie L., Electronic Media, 07450311, 3/4/2002, Vol. 21, Issue 9"

 

Royal Rumble 1997 & 1998: "In its pay-per-view ventures, the WWF's "Royal Rumble" event in January scored 318,000 buy-ins, 114,000 more than last year, for a 56 percent increase."

IYH 1996/1997: "The "In Your House" PPV event in December scored 151,000 buy-ins, up 22 percent over the previous year, despite a price increase from $19.95 to $29.95 over that same period."

- WWF pins down larger audience. By: Spring, Greg, Electronic Media, 07450311, 02/09/98, Vol. 17, Issue 7

 

SummerSlam 1992/1991: "Although Titan did not have specific buy-rates for the event, Skip Desjardin, manager of PPV marketing for the WWF, said preliminary numbers show a decline in performance from last year's (1991) 3.1 percent buy-rate." - Wrestling taken to the mat again. (declining buy-rates for pay-per-view wrestling events), Multichannel News 14.n5 (Feb 1, 1993): pp15(1).

 

WWF: "WWF has lined up 11.5 million addressable homes for its upcoming Summer Slam '88" Sugar Ray's PPV pot of gold. (Sugar Ray Leonard)., Broadcasting 115.n7 (August 15, 1988): pp41(1).

 

Superbrawl 1994: "Meanwhile, the WCW averaged slightly less than a 1 percent buy-rate for its Feb. 20 SuperBrawl IV PPV event, operators said. Most operators said the event did about as well as, and in some cases better than, last year's event." - Turner Entertainment close to signing Hulk Hogan for WCW. (Turner Entertainment Co.; World Championship Wrestling). Multichannel News 15.n9 (Feb 28, 1994): pp14(1).

 

"able system addressability (the ability to deliver PPV programing) is expected to climb to 23 million homes by the end of 1995, a 3% boost over year-end 1994, according to Showtime Event Television; The wrestling category raked in an estimated $70 million in PPV revenue in 1994, and promoters are looking to push that number even higher this year." - PPV outlook: partly sunny. (pay-per-view television). Broadcasting & Cable 125.n14 (April 3, 1995): pp30(1). (Article also notes that Playboy TV gets 900k orders a month)

[Bix]

That TV/Radio Age blurb is a little weird. Why are they comparing a $4 movie with a $25 live event?

[mookeighana]

That TV/Radio Age blurb is a little weird. Why are they comparing a $4 movie with a $25 live event?

Yeah, it's a weird comparison. (When I did Grocery Store consulting, I would always remind people if that if they really just want to sell more units then price them at a penny. However, lots of volume doesn't equal profit.)

I might be because there was a lot of difference between people that _could_ order a PPV and number of the people that actually will (see the chart a few posts ago about the difference between available and using).

 

But anyone, people should read the issue that I linked of the magazine - if nothing else for the awesome ALF and DoubleDare ads.

 

Here's a list of articles that seem interesting but I haven't found a way to get full-text yet:

 

"We want to be like Disney." (TitanSports Inc.) (company profile).company profile). Forbes 17 Oct. 1988

 

"Deregulation takes to the mat. (New Jersey legislation seeks to clarify whether pro wrestling is sport or entertainment, therefore exempt from state control)." Insight on the News 6.n14 (April 2, 1990): pp54(1).

 

'They never saw anybody as mean as me.' (Freddy Blassie of the World Wrestling Federation). Variety 344.n4 (August 5, 1991): pp82(2).

 

P-P-V boost the bottom line. (pay-per-view television increases profits for the World Wrestling Federation). Variety 344.n4 (August 5, 1991): pp80(1).

 

Promotional machine powered by the tube. (television programming has helped promote the World Wrestling Federation). Variety 344.n4 (August 5, 1991): pp78(1).

 

Biz booms abroad. (World Wrestling Federation experiences success in foreign markets). Variety 344.n4 (August 5, 1991): pp76(2).

 

Suddenly pay-per-view is hot, riding in on high-tech. (special section). Variety 333.n7 (Dec 7, 1988): pp50(2)

 

Wrestlemania proves P-P-V titan. (Sports Channels) (column). Variety 330.n11 (April 6, 1988): pp34(1).

 

Record indoor gate for Wrestlemania 3. (Pontiac, Michigan). Variety 326.(April 1, 1987): pp1(2).

 

TV pins live arena wrestling: overexposure threatens sport's future growth. Variety 323.(July 16, 1986): pp1(2).

 

In the Ring with Ted Turner Forbes. 11/28/1988, Vol. 142 Issue 11, p12-12. 1/4p. (The article reports on the acquisition of most of the assets of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) by Turner Broadcasting System Inc. The assets were paid for about $5 million in early November 1988. It is said that Ted Turner's first order of business will be to shore up the NWA for which has already become an important program supplier for Turner.)[/i]

 

If you find any of these, please send me a link!

[Bix]

That searchable archive of TV/Radio Age issues is tremendous and I will waste way too much time on it.

 

I should see if my library has added any good databases...

[s1rweeze]

Holy cow, this is great stuff, tons of info

 

Kudos to mookeighana

[mookeighana]

Also, if anyone is curious in reviewing the 200+ articles from 1985-2013 that I have come across from Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News, Forbes, Sports Illustrated, Variety and many other journals, drop me a PM and I can share a zipfile. Most aren't available on the web, so they represent good new information and there's certainly a lot of operator comments in the PPV articles from the 1990s that are intriguing.

[mookeighana]

I've been working my way through the thread and cross-referencing all of the information. First of all, great job by everyone. As I said before, I've long been working on looking at these things. From 2000-onwards, there is a wealth of SEC materials (especially the periodic financial 10-Q) filings which have a lot of juicy nuggets about PPV buys. The hard part was always 1985-1999, which is being filled in quite nicely here.

 

There's a really nice spreadsheet at http://prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/eventinfo.xls that lists all of the PPVs and has a "PPV buyrate" next to many of the events. It's certainly as fallible as every single other list out there. However, since it fills in a lot of gaps, I thought I would try an experiment where I would take the buyrates from the spreadsheet and push them up against the "# of PPV capable homes" from the Broadcasting Appendix table that I found. (I did use an even slope for every year so the universe "expands" as the year goes by. In reality, I'm sure these expansions were hardly linear, but since the overall universe expansion was roughly linear, I decided to just go with it.)

 

WWF (comparisons to other numbers already listed in this thread)

 

WWF WrestleMania I (3/31/1985): 1.1 buyrate x 2119195 homes = 23,311 buys. (JNLister: 398,000 (CCT) and a negligibly small number of PPV buys)

WWF Wrestling Classic (11/7/1985): 2.5 buyrate x 4710599 homes = 117,764 buys. (this seems high - estimates previously were 43k to 60k buys)

 

WWF WrestleMania II (4/7/1986): 7 buyrate x 5654650 homes = 395,825 buys. (250,000 in NS list, JNLister: 319,000 (Closed Circuit Television) and Andre the Giant's handful on PPV.)

 

WWF WrestleMania III (3/29/1987): 8 buyrate x 6472033 homes = 517,762 buys. ( 400,000 (PPV); 450,000 (CCT); 450,000 (Closed Circuit Television) and another 400,000 on PPV)

WWF Survivor Series 1987 (11/26/1987): 7 buyrate x 7297766 homes = 510,843 buys. (this seems high: 325,000 in NS list)

 

WWF WrestleMania IV (3/27/1988): 6.5 buyrate x 7786150 homes = 506,099 buys. ( 485,000; JNLister: 175,000 (Closed Circuit Television), Approx 650,000 on PPV)

WWF SummerSlam 1988 (8/29/1988): 4.5 buyrate x 8491025 homes = 382,096 buys. (this seems low; estimate was 500,000 in NS list and 400,000 in Observer notes)

WWF Survivor Series 1988 (11/24/1988): 2.8 buyrate x 8913950 homes = 249,590 buys. (this is close - 310,000 buys)

 

WWF Royal Rumble 1989 (1/15/1989): 1.5 buyrate x 9195900 homes = 137,938 buys. (this is close = 165,000 buys)

WWF WrestleMania V (4/2/1989): 5.9 buyrate x 10313650 homes = 608,505 buys. (this is low,767,000 buys is the common number)

WWF SummerSlam 1989 (8/28/1989): 4.8 buyrate x 11803983 homes = 566,591 buys. (numbers between 575,000 and 625,000 have been published)

WWF Survivor Series 1989 (11/23/1989): 3.3 buyrate x 12921733 homes = 426,417 buys. (this is a little higher than the 385,000 number)

WWF No Holds Barred (12/27/1989): 1.6 buyrate x 13294316 homes = 212,709 buys. ("Gross buys for the four showings of the movie and the event, DeVito estimated, was 300,000." - Broadcasting Jan 1 1990)

 

WWF Royal Rumble 1990 (1/21/1990): 2 buyrate x 13666900 homes = 273,338 buys. (this is close to 260,000)

WWF WrestleMania VI (4/1/1990): 4.5 buyrate x 14365500 homes = 646,447 buys. (this is higher than then 550,000 to 560,000 number)

WWF SummerSlam 1990 (8/27/1990): 3.8 buyrate x 15296966 homes = 581,284 buys. (this is close to the 550,000 number though the article from 7/8/91 had the buyrate higher up at 4.3)

WWF Survivor Series 1990 (11/22/1990): 3 buyrate x 15995566 homes = 479,866 buys. (this is above the 400,000 number)

 

WWF Royal Rumble 1991 (1/19/1991): 2.4 buyrate x 16461300 homes = 395,071 buys. (this is below the 440,000 number)

WWF WrestleMania VII (3/24/1991): 2.8 buyrate x 17064910 homes = 477,817 buys. (this is higher than the 400,000 number)

WWF SummerSlam 1991 (8/26/1991): 2.7 buyrate x 18573935 homes = 501,496 buys. (this is VASTLY above the 375,000 to 405,000 numbers) - however the 9/2/91 article calls it "608,000 buys"

WWF Survivor Series 1991 (11/27/1991): 2.2 buyrate x 19479350 homes = 428,545 buys. (this is much higher than the 300,000 number)

WWF Tuesday in Texas (12/3/1991): 1 buyrate x 19781155 homes = 197,811 buys. (this is slightly above the 140,000 number)

 

WWF Royal Rumble 1992 (1/19/1992): 1.8 buyrate x 20082960 homes = 361,493 buys. (this is above the 260,000 number)

WWF WrestleMania VIII (4/5/1992): 2.3 buyrate x 21069480 homes = 484,598 buys. (this is above the 360,000 to 390,000 numbers)

WWF SummerSlam 1992 (8/29/1992): 1.5 buyrate x 22384840 homes = 335,772 buys. (this is above the 285,000 number)

WWF Survivor Series 1992 (11/25/1992): 1.4 buyrate x 23371360 homes = 327,199 buys. (this is above the 250,000 number)

 

WWF Royal Rumble 1993 (1/24/1993): 1.25 buyrate x 24029040 homes = 300,363 buys. (this is below the 430,000 number or was that for WM?)

WWF WrestleMania IX (4/4/1993): 2 buyrate x 25081860 homes = 501,637 buys. (this is above the 430,000 number)

WWF King of the Ring 1993 (6/13/1993): 1.1 buyrate x 25783740 homes = 283,621 buys. (this is close to the 245,000 number)

WWF SummerSlam 1993 (8/30/1993): 1.3 buyrate x 26485620 homes = 344,313 buys. (this is above the 250,000 number)

WWF Survivor Series 1993 (11/24/1993): 0.82 buyrate x 27538440 homes = 225,815 buys. (this is near the 180,000 number)

 

WWF Royal Rumble 1994 (1/22/1994): 0.9 buyrate x 28240320 homes = 254,162 buys. (this is above the 200,000 number)

WWF WrestleMania X (3/20/1994): 1.68 buyrate x 28776500 homes = 483,445 buys. (this is near the 420,000 number)

WWF King of the Ring 1994 (6/19/1994): 0.85 buyrate x 29580770 homes = 251,436 buys. (this is above the 185,000 number)

WWF SummerSlam 1994 (8/29/1994): 1.3 buyrate x 30116950 homes = 391,520 buys. (this is much higher than the 300,000 number)

WWF Survivor Series 1994 (11/23/1994): 0.9 buyrate x 30921220 homes = 278,290 buys. (no estimate in NS list)

 

WWF Royal Rumble 1995 (1/22/1995): 1 buyrate x 31457400 homes = 314,574 buys. (this is above the 225,000 number)

WWF WrestleMania XI (4/2/1995): 1.3 buyrate x 31462550 homes = 409,013 buys. (this is above the 340,000 number)

WWF In Your House #1 (5/14/1995): 0.83 buyrate x 31464266 homes = 261,153 buys. (this is above the 180,000 number)

WWF King of the Ring 1995 (6/25/1995): 0.65 buyrate x 31465983 homes = 204,528 buys. (this is above the 150,000 number)

WWF In Your House #2 (7/23/1995): 0.7 buyrate x 31467700 homes = 220,273 buys. (this is above the 155,000 number)

WWF SummerSlam 1995 (8/27/1995): 0.9 buyrate x 31469416 homes = 283,224 buys. (this is above the 205,000 number)

WWF In Your House #3 (9/24/1995): 0.7 buyrate x 31471133 homes = 220,297 buys. (this is above the 160,000 number)

WWF In Your House #4 (10/22/1995): 0.4 buyrate x 31472850 homes = 125,891 buys. (this is above the 90,000 number)

WWF Survivor Series 1995 (11/19/1995): 0.57 buyrate x 31474566 homes = 179,405 buys. (no estimate)

WWF In Your House #5 (12/17/1995): 0.35 buyrate x 31476283 homes = 110,166 buys. (no estimate)

 

WWF Royal Rumble 1996 (1/21/1996): 1.1 buyrate x 31478000 homes = 346,258 buys. (this is above the 290,000 number or was this for WM?)

WWF In Your House #6 (2/18/1996): 0.75 buyrate x 31764263 homes = 238,231 buys.

WWF WrestleMania XII (3/31/1996): 1.2 buyrate x 32336790 homes = 388,041 buys. (this is above the 290,000 number)

WWF Good Friends, Better Enemies (4/28/1996): 0.65 buyrate x 32336790 homes = 210,189 buys.

WWF Beware of Dog #1 (5/26/1996): 0.45 buyrate x 32623053 homes = 146,803 buys.

WWF Beware of Dog #2 (5/28/1996): 0.45 buyrate x 32623053 homes = 146,803 buys. (this was the make-up airing)

WWF King of the Ring 1996 (6/23/1996): 0.6 buyrate x 32909316 homes = 197,455 buys.

WWF International Incident (7/21/1996): 0.37 buyrate x 33195580 homes = 122,823 buys.

WWF SummerSlam 1996 (8/18/1996): 0.58 buyrate x 33481843 homes = 194,194 buys.

WWF Mind Games (9/22/1996): 0.48 buyrate x 33768106 homes = 162,086 buys.

WWF Buried Alive (10/20/1996): 0.4 buyrate x 34054370 homes = 136,217 buys.

WWF Survivor Series 1996 (11/17/1996): 0.58 buyrate x 34340633 homes = 199,175 buys.

WWF It's Time (12/15/1996): 0.35 buyrate x 34626896 homes = 121,194 buys.

 

WWF Royal Rumble 1997 (1/19/1997): 0.7 buyrate x 34913160 homes = 244,392 buys.

WWF The Final Four (2/16/1997): 0.5 buyrate x 35025475 homes = 175,127 buys.

WWF WrestleMania XIII (3/23/1997): 0.77 buyrate x 35137791 homes = 270,560 buys. (this is above the 237,000 number)

WWF Taker's Revenge (4/20/1997): 0.5 buyrate x 35250107 homes = 176,250 buys.

WWF A Cold Day in Hell (5/11/1997): 0.57 buyrate x 35362423 homes = 201,565 buys.

WWF King of the Ring 1997 (6/8/1997): 0.5 buyrate x 35474739 homes = 177,373 buys.

WWF Canadian Stampede (7/6/1997): 0.59 buyrate x 35587055 homes = 209,963 buys.

WWF SummerSlam 1997 (8/3/1997): 0.8 buyrate x 35699370 homes = 285,594 buys. (this was above the 250,000 number)

WWF Ground Zero (9/7/1997): 0.45 buyrate x 35811686 homes = 161,152 buys.

WWF Badd Blood 1997 (10/5/1997): 0.6 buyrate x 35924002 homes = 215,544 buys.

WWF Survivor Series 1997 (11/9/1997): 0.89 buyrate x 36036318 homes = 320,723 buys.

WWF D-Generation X (12/7/1997): 0.44 buyrate x 36148634 homes = 159,053 buys.

 

WWF Royal Rumble 1998 (1/18/1998): 0.97 buyrate x 36260950 homes = 351,731 buys.

WWF No Way Out 1998 (2/15/1998): 0.52 buyrate x 36310541 homes = 188,814 buys.

WWF WrestleMania XIV (3/29/1998): 2.3 buyrate x 36360133 homes = 836,283 buys. (this was above the 730,000 number)

WWF Unforgiven 1998 (4/26/1998): 0.85 buyrate x 36409725 homes = 309,482 buys.

WWF Over the Edge 1998 (5/31/1998): 0.58 buyrate x 36508908 homes = 211,751 buys.

WWF King of the Ring 1998 (6/28/1998): 0.85 buyrate x 36508908 homes = 310,325 buys.

WWF Fully Loaded 1998 (7/26/1998): 0.9 buyrate x 36558500 homes = 329,026 buys.

WWF SummerSlam 1998 (8/30/1998): 1.63 buyrate x 36608091 homes = 596,711 buys. (this was below that debated 700,000 number)

WWF Breakdown (9/27/1998): 0.86 buyrate x 36657683 homes = 315,256 buys.

WWF Judgment Day 1998 (10/18/1998): 0.89 buyrate x 36707275 homes = 326,694 buys.

WWF Survivor Series 1998 (11/15/1998): 1.3 buyrate x 36756866 homes = 477,839 buys.

WWF Rock Bottom (12/13/1998): 0.78 buyrate x 36806458 homes = 287,090 buys.

 

WWF Royal Rumble 1999 (1/24/1999): 1.88 buyrate x 36856050 homes = 692,893 buys. (this was above the 650,000 buys)

WWF St. Valentine's Day Massacre (2/14/1999): 1.21 buyrate x 37097382 homes = 448,878 buys.

WWF WrestleMania XV (3/28/1999): 2.32 buyrate x 37338715 homes = 866,258 buys. (this was above the 800,000 number)

WWF Backlash 1999 (4/25/1999): 1.06 buyrate x 37580047 homes = 398,348 buys.

WWF Over the Edge 1999 (5/23/1999): 1.1 buyrate x 37821380 homes = 416,035 buys.

WWF King of the Ring 1999 (6/27/1999): 1.13 buyrate x 38062712 homes = 430,108 buys.

WWF Fully Loaded 1999 (7/25/1999): 0.94 buyrate x 38304045 homes = 360,058 buys.

WWF SummerSlam 1999 (8/22/1999): 1.61 buyrate x 38545377 homes = 620,580 buys. (this was slightly below the 650,000 number)

WWF Unforgiven 1999 (9/26/1999): 0.85 buyrate x 38786710 homes = 329,687 buys.

WWF No Mercy 1999 (10/17/1999): 0.84 buyrate x 39028042 homes = 327,835 buys.

WWF Survivor Series 1999 (11/14/1999): 1.14 buyrate x 39269375 homes = 447,670 buys.

WWF Armageddon 1999 (12/12/1999): 0.94 buyrate x 39510707 homes = 371,400 buys.

 

On average, I'm low for 1988/1989, about 20% high for 1990-1992, okay for 1993, about 25% high for 1994-1997 and near for 1998-1999. I didn't correlate all of my article blurbs with this list yet - I used the buyrate estimates that came from the ProWrestlingHistory spreadsheet.