Jmare007 Posted October 29, 2015 Report Share Posted October 29, 2015 With the increase in television rights fees and network subscriptions as the key components of the WWE's current business, WWE generated $166.2 million in revenue and $10.4 million in profits for the quarter ending 9/30. The numbers compare favorably to the $120.2 million in revenue and $5.9 million in losses for the same quarter last year, but last year was supposed to be a losing year due to the start up of the network. This year was when profits were supposed to turn around big. While they are nowhere near what was being projected and network numbers are well below original projections, the business is solid and contractual increases in television rights fees should lead to no more losing quarters and eventually the strongest profit margins in company history. The growth in television was from $42.2 million in revenue for the quarter to $65.2 million. Some of that isn't misleading, because increased rights fees that are contractual are a solid increasing number. But part of the increase was having a full season of Total Divas and Tough Enough during the quarter. There were only four episodes of Total Divas during the third quarter last year and Tough Enough didn't exist. Plus, Tough Enough ratings weren't good and thus far there has been no talk of a new season. The other important driver of future growth is the network segment, which on 9/30 had 1,233,000 paid subscribers and 73,000 free subscribers. That's up from the 1.15 million at the end of June, but down from the 1.33 million at the end of March. It's pretty clear the network business looks to be big increases in the first quarter of the year due to the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania, and trying to hold those increases for the rest of the year. The U.S. number was up from 703,000 at the same point last year to 990,000, while international went from 28,000 at the end of the third quarter last year when it was in limited markets, to 243,000 this year. Besides the India launch on Monday, it was announced that both Japan and Germany would get the network starting in January, and they were working on China, Thailand and The Philippines.. Even though the results were better than most analysts expected, the stock price had fallen from $19.95 per share at the close of the market yesterday to $17.95. That's a big drop, but not a surprise given the big ramp up leading to the call based on the buy on hype, sell on results mantra. The other categories were more good than bad. By running more shows, total attendance, revenue and merchandise sales for house shows increased with $5 million more in revenue, part of which was due to the successful Barclays Center run in August. Attendance was similar per show, but high ticket prices and more shows led to the increase. Home Entertainment was the only division down, but that's not unexpected given the network would cannibalize that. Licensing was up from $10 million to $11.5 million for the quarter due to the success of the video game. WWE shop also continued to show big increases, from $4.3 million in revenue in this quarter last year to $6 million. The 10/3 live event from Madison Square Garden was the company's most watched network show to date with the exception of the regular Sunday PPV events. Other strong performers were the Beast in the East show from Japan and the August 22 NXT Takeover show from Brooklyn, as well as the Stone Cold Podcast and Swerved. The expectation, due to contractual growth of the television deals that the company is healthy and profits should grow. In many ways, the investment call was vague, but due tot he changing landscape of distribution both domestically and abroad, nobody really knows exactly where things are going. WWE pointed to its strength in places like You Tube and Facebook in that they will be ahead of the curve in however things change, and downplayed the declining TV ratings by saying it's not about singular metrics, and most metrics are up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jushin muta liger Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 Well I was wrong. http://squaredcirclesirens.com/wwe-divas-starring-on-wwe-network-shows-next-week/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherwagner Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 The editing on that one will be interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherwagner Posted November 6, 2015 Report Share Posted November 6, 2015 Breaking Ground looks interesting. Those 30 minutes flew by. Breaking Ground was really good and if they keep up by the end it may be the best series WWE has ever produced. Being a modern WWE fan (not something I'd call myself) must be really frustrating because you see them doing high quality narrative like this and then you tune in on Raw and see another MONSTER KANE reboot and Lana in denim skirts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted November 7, 2015 Report Share Posted November 7, 2015 Well I was wrong. http://squaredcirclesirens.com/wwe-divas-starring-on-wwe-network-shows-next-week/ The editing on that one will be interesting. I watched it last night. Seemingly no editing (outside of the normal editing that goes into any of these shows). Snuka was mentioned over and over. I suppose they could have removed the more flowery stuff about him, if there was anything, but we have no way of knowing that. Come to think of it, Snuka was mentioned more than Anvil. You'd think Anvil was the one in trouble with the law. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jushin muta liger Posted November 7, 2015 Report Share Posted November 7, 2015 Well I was wrong. http://squaredcirclesirens.com/wwe-divas-starring-on-wwe-network-shows-next-week/ The editing on that one will be interesting. I watched it last night. Seemingly no editing (outside of the normal editing that goes into any of these shows). Snuka was mentioned over and over. I suppose they could have removed the more flowery stuff about him, if there was anything, but we have no way of knowing that. Come to think of it, Snuka was mentioned more than Anvil. You'd think Anvil was the one in trouble with the law. I watched it too and I was surprised by how much he was talked about but it felt like Nattie was dominating the conversation for the most part. Wanted to her more from Charlotte and Tamina especially with Tamina cause she had kids before she got into WWE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted November 7, 2015 Report Share Posted November 7, 2015 Breaking Ground looks interesting. Those 30 minutes flew by. Breaking Ground was really good and if they keep up by the end it may be the best series WWE has ever produced. Being a modern WWE fan (not something I'd call myself) must be really frustrating because you see them doing high quality narrative like this and then you tune in on Raw and see another MONSTER KANE reboot and Lana in denim skirts. The problem with Breaking Ground is that odds are the fan who's hardcore enough to watch it knows when the narratives they try to push are bullshit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chief Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 Watched the newest Table for 3, Regal's brass knuckles story is great. I could listen to that man talk forever. The guys mind just works on a different level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 Watched the newest Table for 3, Regal's brass knuckles story is great. I could listen to that man talk forever. The guys mind just works on a different level.I love Regal. The fact that his favorite thing he's ever done in his career was dressing in drag in Vegas is just awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judy Bagwell Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 can anyone tell if there is an uncut version of the 88 survivor series on the network, its become like the holy grail for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebrainfollower Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 I wanna say it's uncut. I watched it there once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotJayTabb Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 Watched the newest Table for 3, Regal's brass knuckles story is great. I could listen to that man talk forever. The guys mind just works on a different level.I love Regal. The fact that his favorite thing he's ever done in his career was dressing in drag in Vegas is just awesome. Regal talking about how he'd always try and make a change to his appearance to make sure they'd create a new action figure of him was great. As was Barrett joking about how they're the three least-effective King of the Ring winners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherwagner Posted November 14, 2015 Report Share Posted November 14, 2015 Breaking Ground looks interesting. Those 30 minutes flew by. Breaking Ground was really good and if they keep up by the end it may be the best series WWE has ever produced. Being a modern WWE fan (not something I'd call myself) must be really frustrating because you see them doing high quality narrative like this and then you tune in on Raw and see another MONSTER KANE reboot and Lana in denim skirts. The problem with Breaking Ground is that odds are the fan who's hardcore enough to watch it knows when the narratives they try to push are bullshit. Episode 3 already seemed like an episode of Total Divas with all the forced shopping and nightlife events (well, I don't know, I have seen Total Divas two or three times in the background, but that's the bullshit that I imagine them doing in that show). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted November 16, 2015 Report Share Posted November 16, 2015 I mean, I know we all already know this, but you search the WWE Network for Nick Bockwinkel and you get precisely one match, and it's from WCW, and well past his prime. Brilliant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted November 16, 2015 Report Share Posted November 16, 2015 I mean, I know we all already know this, but you search the WWE Network for Nick Bockwinkel and you get precisely one match, and it's from WCW, and well past his prime. Brilliant. Yep. Had the same experience last night. What a joke! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilTLL Posted November 16, 2015 Report Share Posted November 16, 2015 Heaven forbid they post, say, the matches from his HOF feature month on COD years ago. I'm sure that would be incredibly difficult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted November 17, 2015 Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 How was the after show about taker? Have some downtime and thinking about checking it out on wifi from hotel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted November 17, 2015 Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 How was the after show about taker? Have some downtime and thinking about checking it out on wifi from hotel. Really good. If anything, too short. But there will be a Part 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted November 17, 2015 Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dexstar Posted November 17, 2015 Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 Part 2 is up on the network already in that Undertaker section Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherwagner Posted November 17, 2015 Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 Heaven forbid they post, say, the matches from his HOF feature month on COD years ago. I'm sure that would be incredibly difficult. I don't even know why don't they do this for every member of the HOF. Most of this content is already produced, edited and ready to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted November 18, 2015 Report Share Posted November 18, 2015 The two part JBL panel show with Austin, HBK, and HHH is fucking outstanding. Oh and hilarious as fuck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerva Posted November 18, 2015 Report Share Posted November 18, 2015 I mean, I know we all already know this, but you search the WWE Network for Nick Bockwinkel and you get precisely one match, and it's from WCW, and well past his prime. Brilliant. Yep. Had the same experience last night. What a joke! Also tells you how bad the search feature is since I am pretty sure they have the AWA documentary on the Network as well. Thought there was plenty of Bockwinkel on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted November 19, 2015 Report Share Posted November 19, 2015 I watched the Best Vignettes episode of The WWE List. No surprises, other than Kharma (which was unexpected), but still a fun look back at all of the usual suspects - and some outtakes that were absolutely perfect. One thing I don't understand is why WWE uses d-list celebrities for this show. If most of us have never heard of them, they're not real celebrities. For example, who the fuck is Ron Funches? (Nothing against Ron - I'd also pick on the other quasi-celeb lady with the NY/NJ accent, but I can't remember her name.) The only real celeb they used was Melissa Joan Hart, and they should be on their hands and knees thankful she's a fan. This show would be so much better if they used more wrestlers and less/no celebs. The wrestlers they do use are an odd assortment of legends (Jake) and barely-on-TV-yet NXT wrestlers (Elias Samson), so they have the right idea there. There was one mildly surprising talking head appearance by an older wrestler you wouldn't necessarily have expected, but try as I might, I can't remember who it was now. Hopefully someone else watched the show and can jog my memory. If it comes to me, I'll edit the post. Edit: Virgil is probably who I was thinking of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMJ Posted November 19, 2015 Report Share Posted November 19, 2015 The fact that Ron Funches is on there actually makes we want to watch it now! Dude's pretty funny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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