WWE Network... It's Here

[PhilTLL]

It has to be pretty disenchanting to realize you found enough new customers to hit your breakeven, but can't stop bleeding almost the same amount of existing ones.

[goc]

What I don't understand is why they will spam my inbox telling me I should resubscribe but not once have they asked me why I stopped giving them my money. I'd be happy to tell them.

[WingedEagle]

The problem with the number is that I believe they previously indicated an expectation of 1MM+ by year end. That clearly isn't happening at this rate and is the impetus for luring folks in with a free November. At this point its about managing expectations that have run away from them.

 

The good news, if any, is that the failure to deliver on what they promised may at some point force them to think outside the box and try different things from creative, content and promotional perspectives. But we're not there yet.

[NintendoLogic]

The problem with the number is that I believe they previously indicated an expectation of 1MM+ by year end. That clearly isn't happening at this rate and is the impetus for luring folks in with a free November. At this point its about managing expectations that have run away from them.

 

The good news, if any, is that the failure to deliver on what they promised may at some point force them to think outside the box and try different things from creative, content and promotional perspectives. But we're not there yet.

 

Vince's track record when he goes into panic mode suggests that the opposite will be true.

 

My understanding was that anything less than 900k would be an unmitigated disaster. I don't see how there's any way to spin this.

[pol]

I know this probably sounds ridiculous, but I feel like the connection between the quality of the current product and the success of the Network barely even occurs to them. The company has become gradually embroiled in so much bureaucracy since going public and now make so much of their money from nontraditional (i.e anything but live attendance and PPV) revenue streams that creative is the last thing on the mind of those making business decisions. I don't know if they even see themselves as a wrestling company so much as a TV/licensing empire that just happens to be built on wrestling.

[dexstar]

Yeah, but will they realize people aren't sticking around because they aren't satisfied with the product, or will they once again retreat into The Wrestling Bubble and just blame everything else under the sun? I've always been optimistic this is going to be a success because it seems like it eventually HAS to be for the company to survive, but they have to understand that a main reason they are failing is that the service itself just isn't good enough to justify even $9.99 a month for most people who aren't sickly obsessed with wrestling, right?

[stomperspc]

I know this probably sounds ridiculous, but I feel like the connection between the quality of the current product and the success of the Network barely even occurs to them. The company has become gradually embroiled in so much bureaucracy since going public and make so much of their money from nontraditional (i.e anything but attendance and PPV) revenue streams that creative is the last thing on the mind of those making business decisions.

 

I don't think that is ridiculous. Well, I mean it is in the sense that it's ridiculous because there is an obvious connection, but I think you are right in concluding that they haven't made the connection. Or if they have, they think there are other, perhaps quicker, ways to make the Network successful other than putting out a current product that people want to see and will pay to see. They have operated for years now with little downside risk because their other revenue streams were strong and stable enough that the core business didn't matter very much. Now it suddenly does again with the shift to the Network. It is not surprising they have been slow to react.

 

Getting rid of the 6-month commitment is smart. The free month will matter if there are a slew of people who either don't know what they get with the network and/or are unsure if the technology will work for them. If there are a bunch of people that fall into those categories, than it might have an impact but I am not convinced that's the case. If current WWE gets hot, all of this will sort itself out. Of course, that's a big question mark. It's not as if there aren't other things they can do that will help control the bleeding, but pike pol said, the quality of the current product will ultimately drive the success of the Network.

[kayfabe1984]

Agreed that getting rid of the 6-month commitment is smart. That probably scared a lot of people away to begin with.

 

I see all of these promotions for new subscribers, but what about the current subscribers (like myself) who have subscribed from day one expecting all this great stuff, when halfway through the first six months, they shit the bed and stopped updating World Class, ECW, Old School, etc.

 

I'll stay a network subscriber mainly because of the PPVs, however they drastically need to increase the on-demand library with all the classic footage they have. I'm of the opinion that no one subscribes to the Network just so they can see Legends House, Countdown, etc.

[Matt D]

I have a feeling that there's not a single person in Titan Towers who are thinking that a lack of old territory content has anything to do with the numbers being low.

[pol]

I do think the "it's all creative's fault!" attitude is probably somewhat hardcore fan wishful thinking tho. As far as I know most other business indicators (ratings, attendance,merch) have held steady or dipped only slightly since last year, when they were doing fine financially. The problem is just that the Network isn't an appealing proposition for many people for whatever reason, but it's not necessarily tied to creative. I guess there's an argument to be made that the Network business model requires a more consistently high quality product to succeed than the PPV model, but I'm not sure about that.

[PhilTLL]

The demographic issues are catching up with them too, I think. It's hard to sell a new subscription service when a big part of your fan base is too young to have credit cards and another big part is always maxed out on theirs. People will keep cable TV for more than WWE, and most casual fans probably got live tickets or one PPV as a yearly treat. "$10 every month just for WWE" seems like an easy thing to cut from a family budget when posed that way.

[Stiva]

I wonder how many international subscribers they would have had if the launch date in the UK wasn't pushed back. and I wonder how many "domestic" subscribers are actually people in the UK using false dns'

[dexstar]

"$10 for WWE" is also a hard sell for some of the people I know because they like saving money on the PPVs, but we just watch it at the same place- and they are unimpressed by the actual service (in terms of ability to skip around, selection, interface) enough that they don't see the point in having it for anything but the new PPVs. Then they find out they can't watch Raw on it either (which I completely understand is not really something WWE can fix right now) and they very little interest in spending anything on it.

[pol]

It's worth noting that since these numbers only extend till September 30th, they don't include people who subscribed in the days immediately leading up to Mania. Since their figures only indicate a domestic gain of 3000, they must have actually had a fairly significant net domestic loss.

[Matt D]

It's pretty striking to compare people's feelings back in February about how this year would go for WWE to now. the TV deal was a disaster that most people didn't expect. They were supposed to sail on that and use it to cover any danger of the network transition.

[pantherwagner]

I have a feeling that there's not a single person in Titan Towers who are thinking that a lack of old territory content has anything to do with the numbers being low.

 

They pretty much reached that conclusion a few months ago when they saw that nobody was watching old MSG shows from the mid 80s that were cold dropped there with no promotion.... and that's their own product.

 

I expect A LOT of panic moves but I don't expect a push on pre-1996 footage to be one of them.

 

They should have followed the UFC model of underpromising and overdelivering. Funny how the UFC is shopping around for old libraries like Shooto, while the WWE library has got tons of footage they are doing nothing with after an initial DVD release.

[Strummer]

holy shit Vince is looking old. He's never coming back to TV, is he?

 

I doubt this changes the product. Looking at Vince's history it just means Cena will get pushed even harder

[Matt D]

I still think they dropped the ball not doing a Network-Only one night tournament for the title before MITB after Bryan went down (they had a saturday house show that it could have worked at). Or at least King of the Ring exclusive on the network in June or something. The former was almost a kismet moment for them to capitalize on a negative in a strong way.

[Coffey]

The WWE Network will strive if the current product is hot. You heat up the show, more eyes wanna see it. I don't think it's a lack of content hurting the subscriber numbers, I think it's apathy. Right now, who is going to get the network? Casual fans don't care about PPVs from 1995. Hardcore fans have already seen all the content on there. What's the draw? Only the current PPVs really.

 

I'm not a big detractor of the WWE TV-PG rating from a content perspective. However, PG in 1984 is not the same thing as PG in 2014. WCW Nitro was PG technically too but it never really felt like I was watching children's programming. WWF in the 80's with Hulkamania and early 90's was too but you still had Hogan eating a fireball or Savage getting mauled by a cobra & stuff like that. WWE sometimes nowadays does feel corny & for children. Like that midget shit a couple weeks back. Sometimes WWE tries to walk the line too which also doesn't really work as you end up alienating both sides equally.

 

I don't think in this era you can be the "circus" that WWE wants to be where you have "something for everyone." You need to target a demographic and go after it.

 

WWE Monday Night RAW is their flagship show. WWE Pay-Per-Views are on Sunday nights. Both Sunday and Monday are school nights and the shows last until 11PM. Plus the WWE Network is a subscription based monthly bill. Why are they targeting children? Kids can't stay up until 11pm on school nights & adults switch to different content from 10pm-11pm. That's why the third hour of RAW always has the lowest rating.

 

I honestly feel like WWE has went out of their way so much to appear as a non-wrestling show that it has hurt them now when they need wrestling fans. You can call wrestlers Superstars, wrestling Sports Entertainment, fans the WWE Universe, whatever, you're still a wrestling show with wrestlers wrestling for fans at the end of the day.

 

Kids will want to watch whatever is "in" just like kids watched when wrestling was super hot in the Attitude Era. I'm not saying that WWE needs to return to TV-14 or bring back blood in matches or have Diva thong matches or anything but they need to compete with other weeknight programming.

 

Wins and losses don't matter. Titles don't matter. Everyone is overexposed and stale. No match-up feels fresh. We don't get conclusions to stories and the fans usually get a feel good payoff once a year at Wrestlemania. What's the draw to buy the Network? I don't care if it's $2 a month, the price isn't the problem. It's not about fans being cheap it's about it not being worth the time.

 

From all reports, you have writers not writing to make the best show but to try to appeal to Vince McMahon's tastes & his ego. You have, apparently, a civil war between Triple H & Kevin Dunn. You have a ton of people showcased on each show because of politics instead of putting the most talented people on there. It's just a mess. I'm not there though, that's all rumors & hearsay. From what I can see, I see a show that is repetative, bland & needs a new breath of life breathed into it. The show is monotonous. It's like watching a factory of robots reciting lines from Days of Our Lives with some acrobatics in the middle. There's no heat or passion or intensity. Everything about the show feels like corporate shilling. The WWE "Did You Know?" facts, the running $9.99 "joke", the stooges that are the pathetic commentators, shilling for the WWE app, talking about Twitter wars...it's all hideous. RAW feels like a 3-hour commercial telling you to do everything but watch RAW. Then when there is wrestling, even the matches themselves have ad breaks.

 

Change the damn show & go in a new direction. WWE is complacent. They're scared to take risks. They have not had any competition for so long that they have had no reason to try new things & are just coasting. Well the WWE Network was a big risk. Dropping Pay-Per-Views from cable and onto the Network was a big risk. The new contract for RAW was a big risk. Yet even with all that going on...nothing changed. They didn't try to improve or try to shake things up, they just expected the WWE name and brand to carry them through it all. Well, it hasn't.

 

Hey, I'm not a stockholder. All I know is from what I've read from various corners of the internet. I'm not a businessman & might be talking out of my ass completely. I'm pretty sure though if you put out something that people want to see, they'll pay for it. If you put out something that people don't care about, they won't.

 

You want more WWE Network subscribers? Put on a better, modern professional wrestling show that doesn't insult the intelligence of the viewing audience and that features good writing and continuity. Just like the other popular television programs that do well.

[kayfabe1984]

The WWE Network will strive if the current product is hot. You heat up the show, more eyes wanna see it. I don't think it's a lack of content hurting the subscriber numbers, I think it's apathy. Right now, who is going to get the network? Casual fans don't care about PPVs from 1995. Hardcore fans have already seen all the content on there. What's the draw? Only the current PPVs really.

 

I'm not a big detractor of the WWE TV-PG rating from a content perspective. However, PG in 1984 is not the same thing as PG in 2014. WCW Nitro was PG technically too but it never really felt like I was watching children's programming. WWF in the 80's with Hulkamania and early 90's was too but you still had Hogan eating a fireball or Savage getting mauled by a cobra & stuff like that. WWE sometimes nowadays does feel corny & for children. Like that midget shit a couple weeks back. Sometimes WWE tries to walk the line too which also doesn't really work as you end up alienating both sides equally.

 

I don't think in this era you can be the "circus" that WWE wants to be where you have "something for everyone." You need to target a demographic and go after it.

 

WWE Monday Night RAW is their flagship show. WWE Pay-Per-Views are on Sunday nights. Both Sunday and Monday are school nights and the shows last until 11PM. Plus the WWE Network is a subscription based monthly bill. Why are they targeting children? Kids can't stay up until 11pm on school nights & adults switch to different content from 10pm-11pm. That's why the third hour of RAW always has the lowest rating.

 

I honestly feel like WWE has went out of their way so much to appear as a non-wrestling show that it has hurt them now when they need wrestling fans. You can call wrestlers Superstars, wrestling Sports Entertainment, fans the WWE Universe, whatever, you're still a wrestling show with wrestlers wrestling for fans at the end of the day.

 

Kids will want to watch whatever is "in" just like kids watched when wrestling was super hot in the Attitude Era. I'm not saying that WWE needs to return to TV-14 or bring back blood in matches or have Diva thong matches or anything but they need to compete with other weeknight programming.

 

Wins and losses don't matter. Titles don't matter. Everyone is overexposed and stale. No match-up feels fresh. We don't get conclusions to stories and the fans usually get a feel good payoff once a year at Wrestlemania. What's the draw to buy the Network? I don't care if it's $2 a month, the price isn't the problem. It's not about fans being cheap it's about it not being worth the time.

 

From all reports, you have writers not writing to make the best show but to try to appeal to Vince McMahon's tastes & his ego. You have, apparently, a civil war between Triple H & Kevin Dunn. You have a ton of people showcased on each show because of politics instead of putting the most talented people on there. It's just a mess. I'm not there though, that's all rumors & hearsay. From what I can see, I see a show that is repetative, bland & needs a new breath of life breathed into it. The show is monotonous. It's like watching a factory of robots reciting lines from Days of Our Lives with some acrobatics in the middle. There's no heat or passion or intensity. Everything about the show feels like corporate shilling. The WWE "Did You Know?" facts, the running $9.99 "joke", the stooges that are the pathetic commentators, shilling for the WWE app, talking about Twitter wars...it's all hideous. RAW feels like a 3-hour commercial telling you to do everything but watch RAW. Then when there is wrestling, even the matches themselves have ad breaks.

 

Change the damn show & go in a new direction. WWE is complacent. They're scared to take risks. They have not had any competition for so long that they have had no reason to try new things & are just coasting. Well the WWE Network was a big risk. Dropping Pay-Per-Views from cable and onto the Network was a big risk. The new contract for RAW was a big risk. Yet even with all that going on...nothing changed. They didn't try to improve or try to shake things up, they just expected the WWE name and brand to carry them through it all. Well, it hasn't.

 

Hey, I'm not a stockholder. All I know is from what I've read from various corners of the internet. I'm not a businessman & might be talking out of my ass completely. I'm pretty sure though if you put out something that people want to see, they'll pay for it. If you put out something that people don't care about, they won't.

 

You want more WWE Network subscribers? Put on a better, modern professional wrestling show that doesn't insult the intelligence of the viewing audience and that features good writing and continuity. Just like the other popular television programs that do well.

 

Amen brother.

 

To the point about dropping PPVs and putting them on the Network ... one has to think, if this Network were to tank and go belly up like the XFL and the numerous other ventures they've tried, how many people will go back and pay $54.95 (or whatever the price is) for a show in HD? My guess is not many.

[C.S.]

Smart move dropping the stupid six-month committment and giving away Survivor Series for free (a show I am interested in, at least for the traditional SS match). Yeah, I think they're getting me back a few months early. Well-played, WWE!

[Cross Face Chicken Wing]

A million people aren't going to pay $10 per month for the Network when they get 3+ hours of wrestling for free every week on Raw. A million people definitely aren't going to pay $10 per month for the Network to watch PPVs where John Cena and Randy Orton wrestle each other for the 853rd time.

 

If WWE can heat up the current product somehow, they'll hit that million mark. Until then, it's going to be tough sledding.

[pol]

I think saying "here's what they need to do to make the Network succeed..." followed by every single smart fan talking point of the last 5-10 years short of "turn Cena heel" is a pretty amusingly pat/convenient outlook on things. No doubt putting on a better product would help business (duh), but, again, they've been doing good financially for years with pretty much the same quality of product, on average, that they have now. It's the Network that's the problem, not the product, unless the Network model somehow demands a higher quality of product than the PPV model to succeed.

[sek69]

My biggest issue is there were long stretches of time where no new content was being added other than Raw/Smackdown on a month delay and the monthly PPV. Between budget cuts and people leaving for other jobs, there was apparently no one manning the ship until just recently. This is the thing your mortgaging the future on more or less and they let it just hang in the breeze, just mind boggling.

[TRMD]

I don't know of anything they could add to the Network to get 200k more subscribers. I think the Network is pretty awesome as is. But I do agree that if the product gets scorching hot, so will the network. Problem is, there is currently nobody being paid by WWE right now that is good enough to lead or start a real boom.

 

And yes, I'm one of those "WWE being PG sucks" kind of guys. A "sport" with people doing such bad ass shit for a living shouldn't have such a nerfd product. The logo is nerfd. The wrestlers are nerfd. The promos are nerfd. The atmosphere is nerfd. The fans are nerfd. WWE is nerfd.