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Post by Word™ on Oct 30, 2014 16:49:13 GMT -5
You know what's really gonna destroy the WWE Network?
The WWE's lack of patience.
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Post by DC:UK on Oct 30, 2014 16:50:01 GMT -5
The network is a great idea but the business model doesn't seem to make much sense to me. In my opinion it is great value, but to make it work it should be the only way you can access classic and original programming. The fact people can view on YouTube, Hulu and various others means people don't feel the need to spend the 9.99.
The lack of international subscribers is worrying though, I was expecting them to break a million when they went to other countries and then 1.5 million (their target) when it was launched in the UK. This says to me that thousands have already signed up using a hack to get the US version, meaning their original 700k figure is actually really poor as so many of them will be from other countries.
I can't wait for the network in the UK, but I worry their subscriber count will be poor as so many have already got the US version. At this rate they will be lucky to hit 1 million by the end of the financial year.
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Post by knupmc on Oct 30, 2014 16:58:03 GMT -5
Wow. That's not as many as I imagined. Hopefully it'll pick up more.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2014 17:11:26 GMT -5
Expect the $9.99 crap we get every week to get even more unbearable going forward, it's basically a guarantee now.
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Post by Duck Holliday on Oct 30, 2014 17:37:45 GMT -5
Man. I still feel that if you watch wrestling week to week its pretty much a no-brainer. Unless you have no income or have to budget to a crazy level to make it by. Otherwise, what's $10 in a "fun budget"? A single movie ticket in a month? The PPV's make it more than worth it, and throw in NXT for arguably the best wrestling in the WWE. All of the old content and docs and stuff just sweeten the deal that much more.
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Post by Next Man’s Knowing Rock on Oct 30, 2014 17:40:18 GMT -5
Expect the $9.99 crap we get every week to get even more unbearable going forward, it's basically a guarantee now. just like your hate for wwe is getting boring. That's like the pot calling the kettle black. coming from you.
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WWE Common Terry
Main Eventer
Joined on: Dec 17, 2003 13:48:53 GMT -5
Posts: 3,803
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Post by WWE Common Terry on Oct 30, 2014 17:58:39 GMT -5
I only have time to watch two hours of Raw on Mondays. If I'm lucky, I can watch the third hour by Wednesday.
I stopped taping Smackdown weeks ago. I stopped actually watching it years ago!
WWE expects too much of its fans. Even NFL fans don't watch as many hours of programming as WWE produces.
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WWE Common Terry
Main Eventer
Joined on: Dec 17, 2003 13:48:53 GMT -5
Posts: 3,803
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Post by WWE Common Terry on Oct 30, 2014 18:02:30 GMT -5
Also, wwe needs to bite the bullet and hire an outside firm to advertise this on non WWE programming. There's probably a huge base of older fans who don't watch the current product but might be willing to pay to see old TV.
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Post by Chip on Oct 30, 2014 18:08:29 GMT -5
i'd like to see the numbers if the WWE removed ALL programming from cable/ppv and every single thing they did was strictly through their own Network
anyway, 700k and the thing hasnt even been around a year yet. the biggest issue is that the WWE once again sold themselves as this amazing media powerhouse and that they would easily crack a million subs...then they didn't....because that's not how it works.
Netflix had like 50,000 people when it was dvd mailings
everything has to start out somewhere, problem is they won't actually give it time, the panic switch is hit, the stocks will crumble and the company will just fire everyone but Cena and Orton so they can sell it as the greatest feud of all time
Stop giving us the same god damn wrestling matches every week. USE YOUR ROSTER. There's like 70 superstars, and we see the same 20 for 5 hours a week + more. Start getting CREATIVE with your writing & booking and people will WANT to pay $9.99 for the PPVs
PPVs were only doing like 200k buys anyway on a good day, so you figure at least half those people signed up for the network anyway. The Network is cool as hell, the idea is great, the content leaves some to be desired but they cant just go putting out their entire library at launch. The overall deal of it is amazing.
The problem lies with the CURRENT PRODUCT....which this company will never actually admit. They'll blame it on Ambrose, or the Network itself, or the referees, anything to avoid actually changing the product to something both kids and adults could fully enjoy and WANT to spend $9.99 a month on + all their other bills
and technically.....
RAW and Smackdown aren't "free"......you DO pay for cable, well, most people do.
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Post by rustyy on Oct 30, 2014 18:59:59 GMT -5
The nostalgia of Austin/Mcmahon and DX has finally gone. Time for WWE to stop being lazy.
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Post by Next Man’s Knowing Rock on Oct 30, 2014 19:21:25 GMT -5
i'd like to see the numbers if the WWE removed ALL programming from cable/ppv and every single thing they did was strictly through their own Network The numbers would be 0, because the lack of TV revenue would mean WWE was out of business -- and putting 100% of the company's current output behind a paywall would mean never ever attracting any new fans or being seen by casual fans ever again, so nobody else would become hardcore fans to the point of paying to watch it.
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Post by Next Man’s Knowing Rock on Oct 30, 2014 19:32:13 GMT -5
The nostalgia of Austin/Mcmahon and DX has finally gone. Time for WWE to stop being lazy. But... But... The tank! And the beer truck! And that time Vince wet his pants! And they dressed up as The Nation that time! It will never get old!* *Unless they spend fifteen or so years replaying it all the time when it doesn't hold up too well in the first place... Oh.
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Post by LA Times on Oct 30, 2014 21:49:22 GMT -5
New episodes of free TV shows aren't going to make people pay $10 a month if all the stuff on there already doesn't interest them enough to. It almost certainly wouldn't draw enough new subscribers to cover the money that Hulu pays them. Thing is that Raw isn't technically "free TV" as you still need to have a cable subscription to watch it and in this age where many are cutting the cable cords, Raw needs to be a big part of the Network. As it stands I think episodes are posted 30 days after they initially air, which I think is way too long. Original airings of Raw and Smackdown will never be on the WWE Network because USA/Syfy/NBC Universal is paying the WWE millions for exclusive rights to those shows It looks like the WWE Networks original programming is as repetitive as their current product with people talking about the same Attitude Era moments over and over again.
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Post by KrimV on Oct 31, 2014 1:44:36 GMT -5
Original airings of Raw and Smackdown will never be on the WWE Network because USA/Syfy/NBC Universal is paying the WWE millions for exclusive rights to those shows It looks like the WWE Networks original programming is as repetitive as their current product with people talking about the same Attitude Era moments over and over again. I never expected original airings, but I think the delay between when it airs on USA and when it's available on the Network needs to be about 7 days.
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Post by rustyy on Oct 31, 2014 1:55:55 GMT -5
Also, wwe needs to bite the bullet and hire an outside firm to advertise this on non WWE programming. There's probably a huge base of older fans who don't watch the current product but might be willing to pay to see old TV. They need to market it to wrestling fans, and to do that they need a better product, with less Cena/Orton and more stars that people want to see. Original airings of Raw and Smackdown will never be on the WWE Network because USA/Syfy/NBC Universal is paying the WWE millions for exclusive rights to those shows It looks like the WWE Networks original programming is as repetitive as their current product with people talking about the same Attitude Era moments over and over again. I never expected original airings, but I think the delay between when it airs on USA and when it's available on the Network needs to be about 7 days. They have a contract with USA for it to be like 30 days or something IIRC.
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Post by T on Oct 31, 2014 3:01:30 GMT -5
I wonder how many more they'll get when it comes to the UK.. *if They're really screwing over the UK and Canada fans at the moment, who would no doubt get that figure well over a million.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2014 3:04:12 GMT -5
I wonder how many more they'll get when it comes to the UK.. *if They're really screwing over the UK and Canada fans at the moment, who would no doubt get that figure well over a million. I'm pretty sure it's definetly coming. It was scheduled for October but delayed.
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Post by Irish Wrestling Entertainment on Oct 31, 2014 4:44:38 GMT -5
The thing I don't really understand with this new report is the change to no commitment for subscribers. I'm not real up on modern business models, but won't that result in a lot of people picking and choosing month to month and basically buying PPV events for $9.99? I'd imagine a large portion of current subscribers are only in it for the PPVs and maybe watch something else every now and again (would be really interesting to see viewership statistics on the different programs and streams). This basically kills Pay Per View as it used to be. I mean, if you have access to the WWE Network at all you'd now have to be a total moron to buy an event for $39.99 (or whatever they are now) on Pay Per View rather than pay $9.99 for a month's worth of WWE Network. Fact is that the product they're putting out, while enjoyable enough to a lifelong fan such as myself, just isn't interesting enough to garner the mass appeal that it once did years ago. Now, with no six month commitment for subscribers, I'd imagine there will be a lot of people who buy it for something like WrestleMania or Royal Rumble, but cancel and don't subscribe for things like TLC or Night Of Champions and thus wouldn't WWE be, in effect, losing more money than they'd be making with a six month commitment from each subscriber? I'm sure they're thinking this will lead to more subscribers in the long run. And it probably will during some months. I worry a bit that whoever is making these decisions keeps insisting that WWE is mainstream and just like Netflix or Hulu. They aren't. Never have been. Never will be. WWE and the wrestling business as a whole is unique and completely unlike anything else. I really wish they would embrace that difference rather that trying to be a mainstream entertainment company. But, that's leading into a broader discussion than network subscriptions. With the network now having launched in a large number of countries outside the United States, I can't imagine they're too thrilled about the 731,000 subscriber count. Very good post. Hopefully WWE will soon realise that the main hindrance to their product is the quality of their product itself. They need to put out must watch TV again and then go for something like this. At the moment, RAW is so bad that I wouldn't try to get one of my friends to watch it because it's inevitable that they wouldn't enjoy it. It has no mass appeal, like you said. I think it was a pretty bad time to roll the network out in that regard. Also, we have the demographics issue. The network requires a monthly fee of 9.99USD yet their product has been targeting only hardcore fans and children for a good part of 7 years. Do they really think all these kids that they pander too will have parents willing to spend 120USD a year for their little kid's wrestling habits, especially in a recession during which some people are struggling to put together the cash for a basic premium TV package?
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Post by Chip on Oct 31, 2014 9:19:47 GMT -5
Vince has a message for us you can almost SEE the desperation in his face it's not a good look this "Free" month is going to backfire. Why not just sign up for the month, watch everything you'd want to watch because who really sits down for 3 hours and watches Summerslam '95 from beginning to end, and at the end of the month you're done. No real need to keep going. With the new monthly plan without a commitment they just better expect to see crazy peaks and valleys with subs. Maybe it will be good because when they see the subs dropping like flies during a month where the PPV is crapty and has no good build, it will open their eyes. The biggest problem here is Vince. As great as he has been, he has always been a salesman/promoter and put HIS ideas of entertainment over what actually is relevant and entertaining. Wrestling is not this powerhouse of all media. It's a niche thing that is made up of people who LOVED it in the 80's & 90's...who stayed around, and now have kids. The problem is that this company is catering to kids and teens. Kids and teens could not give a flying about the Network.
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Post by T on Oct 31, 2014 9:22:28 GMT -5
Just a thought - if two consecutive PPVs occur within 30 days of each other, does that mean ypu could realistically get both PPVs under the one $9.99 payment?
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