WWE Spoils Their Own Announcement

[Snowman1]

Raw and Smackdown will still air on TV

 

[ShaRpY HaRdY]

"Wilson said WWE Network offers 24/7 streaming service with live content and a video on demand library. She said the network will include all 12 WWE pay-per-view events, including WrestleMania. She said there will be groundbreaking shows, pre- and post- Raw and Smackdown shows, and eventually a daily studio show. The launch will include VOD (video on demand) access to every WWE, WCW, and ECW pay-per-view. She said they will continue to add legacy content."


^ So if you pay for the monthly service you will have access to the PPVs without paying for them separately.. I was under the impression that you still have to pay for the PPVs and they are going to be more money, is this true? Or are they referring to PPVs from prior years?

 

[Danielson]

Yeah, it's launching. Tagging @Danielson since we discussed this before.



Can't put into words just how brilliant this idea is. Bravo, WWE.

It really is great. Like you said, it helps the loyal fans save cash, and draws in more. Smart

 

[Dolph'sZiggler]

I'm confused.. the price is 9.99 per month which includes a PPV which would have cost $50 before?

 

[leojay]

I'm confused.. the price is 9.99 per month which includes a PPV which would have cost $50 before?

They're under the impression that more people as a whole will pay $10 a month for this network than all the people combined paying for every Pay Per View. I think they said they need one million subscribers to break even, which if you really think about it is a third of the average that watches RAW in America alone so it may not be too impossible.

They might be shooting themselves in the foot making it so cheap if not many people buy, because quite frankly I would've probably payed up to 20/month for this. But I guess they were trying to entice as many people as they could by making it so cheap. But they were probably doing to entice more casual audiences.

 

[Dolph'sZiggler]

They're under the impression that more people as a whole will pay $10 a month for this network than all the people combined paying for every Pay Per View. I think they said they need one million subscribers to break even, which if you really think about it is a third of the average that watches RAW in America alone so it may not be too impossible.

They might be shooting themselves in the foot making it so cheap if not many people buy, because quite frankly I would've probably payed up to 20/month for this.

they will hike up the price if tons of people are dropping $10. I think PPV is still a viable way to make money, they just don't have the star power to sell them. Look at what happens when Rock shows up, buyrates through the roof. UFC still does good PPV numbers when they put out good cards

 

[leojay]

they will hike up the price if tons of people are dropping $10. I think PPV is still a viable way to make money, they just don't have the star power to sell them. Look at what happens when Rock shows up, buyrates through the roof. UFC still does good PPV numbers when they put out good cards

I believe they're under the impression that PPV's are way too unreliable and not balanced, as one month they'll get 200k and another 80k. So with this they're trying to sell the WWE Product as a whole rather than individual products every month. Yes, there's potential for more money in the PPV structure but also potential for less; so they're playing it safe. They can still sell bigger PPV's like Wrestlemania, Summerslam and Royal Rumble individually down the line though to monetize the system even more.

I can only imagine how many people either illegally stream or don't watch a PPV period because of how much money it is a month that would be willing to pay for this. Whoever said this would be a failure before has gotta be kidding themselves, this has gotta be one of the only good branching ideas they've ever had with mass amounts (if not guaranteed) potential for success.

 

[Danielson]

I believe they're under the impression that PPV's are way too unreliable and not balanced, as one month they'll get 200k and another 80k. So with this they're trying to sell the WWE Product as a whole rather than individual products every month. Yes, there's potential for more money in the PPV structure but also potential for less; so they're playing it safe. They can still sell bigger PPV's like Wrestlemania, Summerslam and Royal Rumble individually down the line though to monetize the system even more.

I can only imagine how many people either illegally stream or don't watch a PPV period because of how much money it is a month that would be willing to pay for this. Whoever said this would be a failure before has gotta be kidding themselves, this has gotta be one of the only good branching ideas they've ever had with mass amounts (if not guaranteed) potential for success.

Agreed, brilliant move in my book.

10 bucks a month is better for some users who have to stream with crap computers, bad internet connection, and shaky streams. It also saves the loyal fans 600 bucks. Couldn't be more pleased with the move.

I wonder how many little kids that don't know where to find links to stream, beg their parents for the ppv. When the parents look and see 60 bucks they probably say :gtfo: but now their kid can tell them, yo listen up it's 10 bucks every month for a year (or they can probably pay 120 up front) and I get every ppv for the entire year. It could be like a christmas present, a birthday present, etc.

EDIT: Also, you're not stuck watching this on a small screen. I think there will be a WWE app on the xbox and ps which allows you to stream the ppvs to your television (for those without knowledge of how to do it from pc to tv)

 

[leojay]

10 bucks a month is better for some users who have to stream with crap computers, bad internet connection, and shaky streams.

To be honest, I don't think there'll be a different between an illegal stream and the WWE Network stream other than (which will still be questionable for the first few months) reliability. If the subscriber does still have a bad internet connection they may not be able to stream the content efficiently, probably to be a big problem in countries that are still on DSL. They said that everything will be provided in 720p, but I wonder if it'll also be provided in lesser qualities. It probably will, but if not it may be a problem for a lot of people.

Plus, I question if their Network Infrastructure is up for the task of potentially simultaneously streaming content to millions at a time. I remember them having mass amounts of problems during WM29 on their site with people missing over half of the PPV, lets hope they're better prepared.

 

[Danielson]

To be honest, I don't think there'll be a different between an illegal stream and the WWE Network stream other than (which will still be questionable for the first few months) reliability. If the subscriber does still have a bad internet connection they may not be able to stream the content efficiently, probably to be a big problem in countries that are still on DSL. They said that everything will be provided in 720p, but I wonder if it'll also be provided in lesser qualities. It probably will, but if not it may be a problem for a lot of people.

Plus, I question if their Network Infrastructure is up for the task of potentially simultaneously streaming content to millions at a time. I remember them having mass amounts of problems during WM29 on their site with people missing over half of the PPV, lets hope they're better prepared.

Maybe I just get crappy links to streams, but they are all pretty bad in my book. I know users like @Snowman used streaming through services and I think he thought it was pretty good. I know it was for NFL and not WWE, but I have to imagine there were a ton of people watching that as well.

I think the biggest issue is like you said, if the problems that happened for WM29 occur. That will leave a lot of fans upset.

 

[leojay]

Here's what currently the 'E owns and could potentially be added to the network for those wondering:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWE_Libraries#Non-WWE_purchases

 

[Snowman1]

Maybe I just get crappy links to streams, but they are all pretty bad in my book. I know users like @Snowman used streaming through services and I think he thought it was pretty good. I know it was for NFL and not WWE, but I have to imagine there were a ton of people watching that as well.

I think the biggest issue is like you said, if the problems that happened for WM29 occur. That will leave a lot of fans upset.

It really depends on how big of an issue video quality is to you. For me using streams are fine but stuff like the NFL Sunday Ticket made the experience better. Better >>> good. But IMO, WWE is better when it's not in HD, It's still a bunch of dudes in their underwear. The last time I watched it in pure HD Big Show came out without a shirt on and made me want to puke. (He's gonna, he's gonna...)

they will hike up the price if tons of people are dropping $10. I think PPV is still a viable way to make money, they just don't have the star power to sell them. Look at what happens when Rock shows up, buyrates through the roof. UFC still does good PPV numbers when they put out good cards

+50,000 buys is hardly "through the roof", but yeah wouldn't be surprised if this goes up a little bit.

Don't see how you say the current PPV model is okay. UFC and WWE are apples to oranges, Wrestling has to do what they've gotta do what they've gotta do to capitalize on all the fans they still have. They won't get as much money from the parents but the adult fans actually buying shows now should balance that out.

I just hope they have the Hulu version of Raw on there, it would be great to cancel that and go with this... although the idea of a pre-and-post show for Raw sounds like it sucks.

 

[Lockard 23]

I see no reason not to pay for this. It's like any real wrestling fan's wet dream (though not a whole lot different from their old 24/7 channel as far as access to the old content goes, which is the main selling point for me.) You get to watch whatever PPVs/shows you want to at will without having to put up with the (usually) sub-par quality you'd find by searching around for them on the internet? And it all comes uncensored as well? Who wouldn't be willing to put money down for that, especially for only $10 a month (though the price will certainly go up later when/if this proves to be successful.)

 

[Dolph'sZiggler]

Don't see how you say the current PPV model is okay. UFC and WWE are apples to oranges,

Pay per view is pay per view, apples to apples. If the WWE had more star power they would sell more PPVs, as proven by Mania every year when they dust off the vets. If Batista, Brock, Cena and lets for fun say Reigns becomes the biggest star in wrestling since Cena and DB has a lot of momentum all take off, more PPVs will be sold.

WWE PPVs aren't in the shitter by random chance, they are in the shitter because for the better part of 5 years they have been headlined by people nobody wants to pay to see.

 

[Dolph'sZiggler]

I see no reason not to pay for this. It's like any real wrestling fan's wet dream (though not a whole lot different from their old 24/7 channel as far as access to the old content goes, which is the main selling point for me.) You get to watch whatever PPVs/shows you want to at will without having to put up with the (usually) sub-par quality you'd find by searching around for them on the internet? And it all comes uncensored as well? Who wouldn't be willing to put money down for that, especially for only $10 a month (though the price will certainly go up later when/if this proves to be successful.)

I don't see the point of paying when I know our friendly resident PW hack @CM Punk will hook m up with some login credentials