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February 8, 2018
WWE Earnings Call Highlights: Who Does Vince Credit For Signing Ronda?, How Long Is She Signed For?, WWE Network Updates, More
~ Kayfabe by Kaliqo~ at 8:38 PM
Labels: George Barrios, Michelle Wilson, Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, Vince McMahon, WWE, WWE Network, XFL
WWE Promotes George Barrios and Michelle Wilson to Co-President
WWE issued the following press release:
STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– In recognition of their contributions to four years of record revenues and the successful transformation to a multiplatform business model, WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon announced today that George Barrios and Michelle Wilson have been promoted to Co-Presidents and appointed to WWE’s Board of Directors. Barrios and Wilson will continue to report directly to McMahon.
“The successful transformation of our business model has put us in a position to capitalize on all that the changing global media landscape has to offer,” said WWE Chairman & CEO, Vince McMahon. “I am confident that our executive management team, led by Michelle and George, will achieve continued success across key strategic initiatives and ensure our long-term growth.”
~ Kayfabe by
Kaliqo~
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7:54 PM
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Labels: George Barrios, Michelle Wilson, Vince McMahon, WWE
January 13, 2018
Rumor Mill - News On WWE Potentially Moving To FOX And Going Back To Two Hours
~ Kayfabe by Kaliqo~ at 9:50 AM
Labels: George Barrios, Rumor Mill, Television Ratings, Triple H, Vince McMahon, WWE
July 27, 2017
Vince McMahon & WWE Execs On WWE Earnings, Network Success, China, The Mae Young Classic, More
WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon, Chief Strategy and Financial Officer George Barrios, Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer Michelle Wilson and SVP Financial Planning & Investor Relations Michael Weitz are hosting a Second Quarter 2017 earnings call today from WWE headquarters in Stamford. Below are highlights:
Weiss opens the call and welcomes us with the basics. Vince McMahon takes over and says they are pleased with execution of strategy to optimize longtime value of their content. He touts some of the numbers from the press release, including live event revenue, WWE Network revenue and subscribers. Vince touts The Mae Young Classic and says it's one of the things Triple H is putting together for the company, as he did with the Cruiserweight Classic. Vince says The MYC is the chance to bring up young female performers, which is vital to their overall product. He says many of their quarter-hours of TV programming reflect success for the female performers. Vince says one of the things he looks at for overall interest in a product is digital video views and they had 9.1 billion views in this part of the year, which is extraordinary. He also touts social media followers and says that's a tremendous indication of overall interest. He also touts global sponsorship and how blue-chip sponsors like KFC, Nestle, AT&T and others have joined them. He plugs the September live event in China and says their strategy in China is looking good. He also plugs some of their international TV deals before turning it over to Barrios.
~ Kayfabe by Kaliqo~ at 10:03 PM
Labels: George Barrios, Mae Young Classic, Michelle Wilson, Vince McMahon, WWE, WWE Network, WWE United Kingdom Championship
February 9, 2017
Vince McMahon Talks WWE UK And WrestleMania 33 Momentum, 'Super Serving' Content To Fans, More
WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon, Chief Strategy and Financial Officer George Barrios and SVP Financial Planning & Investor Relations Michael Weitz hosted a Fourth Quarter 2016 earnings call today from WWE headquarters in Stamford. Below are highlights:
- Weiss opens the call and welcomes everyone. He gives the standard introduction and mentions that the earnings release can be read on the WWE Corporate website. Vince takes over and touts the record revenue announced this morning. Vince talks about how they're "super serving" the WWE Network audience with live shows and in-ring content - specifically 205 Live and the WWE UK Title tournament. He mentions how the cruiserweight division will have their own sources of revenue such as merchandise and live events. It didn't sound like he was indicating cruiserweight-only live events. He said they had 294 million hours of watched content on the Network. He mentioned how social media is big barometer for him and how they had more than 15 billion video views. They're satisfied but not thrilled with their 2016 performance. Barrios takes over the call next.
- Barrios talked about the release and some of their growth, touting that they are the 5th largest streaming service.
~ Kayfabe by Kaliqo~ at 12:54 PM
Labels: 205 Live, Cruiserweight Classic, George Barrios, Vince McMahon, WrestleMania, WWE, WWE Network, WWE United Kingdom Championship
July 28, 2016
WWE's Second Quarter 2016 Earnings Call Recap With Vince McMahon - Brand Split, WWE Network, More
WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon, Chief Strategy and Financial Officer George Barrios and SVP Financial Planning & Investor Relations Michael Weitz are hosting a Second Quarter 2016 earnings call today from WWE headquarters in Stamford. Below are highlights:
* Weitz opens the call and welcomes everyone, then gives the introduction
* Vince says they are pleased with the execution of their strategy when it comes to optimizing the value of their content. He touts record revenues announced this morning. He brought up the brand extension and touted the high rating for the WWE Draft. Vince says the brand extension is working extremely well right now and touted the competitive nature of RAW and SmackDown. He's really proud of the 7.7 billion video views on social and digital platforms for the first half of the year. Vince says people are watching and enjoying them, whether it be on traditional TV, the WWE Network or other platforms. He also commented on the new TV deal in China, saying they are proud of that and hoping for a lot of growth there. Vince hands the call over to Barrios
* None of the growth from last year is being credited to WrestleMania 32, which fell in this quarter. Slides showing separate breakdowns with and without WrestleMania numbers were included for investors
* WWE Network launched in 6 new countries in the past year and revenue was up $7.7 million from this time in 2015
* They confirmed that they have purchased the building that houses the WWE TV studios in Stamford. The purchase will be completed next quarter
* Now it's time for questions
* Regarding why they did the brand extension, Vince said they have a plethora of talent due to Triple H's influence in WWE NXT and the Performance Center. Vince said you can't just exploit all that intellectual property when you have it, so they went with the two brands. He says this allows them to have more pay-per-views, more live events and more income. He also touted more talent personalities, which opens up the door for more licensing opportunities. He called it a really big move on revenue and the brand in general
* It's too early to tell if the brand extension is increasing Network subscription but they are excited about the split and hope it will improve business all across the company
* They have 150,000 hours of content on the WWE Network but aren't sure if all 150,000 will ever be available. They will have 6,000 hours of content on the Network before the end of this year
* Regarding a possible sale of the company, Barrios said they are always open to listening to ideas if that's what is best for fans and employees
~ Kayfabe by Kaliqo~ at 6:16 PM
Labels: George Barrios, Raw, SmackDown, Triple H, Vince McMahon, WWE, WWE Network, WWE NXT
May 10, 2016
WWE Conference Call: Vince McMahon discusses the first quarter financial report
Vince McMahon and members of senior management served as the hosts of a conference call pertaining to the 2016 first quarter financial report that was released on May 10, 2016. The following are the highlights of the call. Refresh the page for the latest updates.
-The call is hosted by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, WWE Chief Strategy and Financial Officer George Barrios, and WWE Investor Relations Michael Weitz.
-It was emphasized that WrestleMania occurred in the second quarter this year compared to last year.
-Vince said the earnings revenue was “pretty good.” He praised the WWE Network number through WrestleMania and the “brand equity of WrestleMania” while noting that they broke their attendance record. Vince said the majority of the tickets were sold when they put them on sale.
-Vince spoke about new network content. He said Camp WWE is doing “extremely well” on the VOD side. He also touted the Holy Foley show and Total Bellas. Vince also boasted of their success on social media and once again labeled it the strength of the brand.
-Vince said they were able to make “chicken salad” out of the injuries they suffered heading into WrestleMania. He mentioned Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt, and John Cena among the returning stars. He said they have introduced 13 new talents and said it speaks to the strength of the NXT brand.
~ Kayfabe by Kaliqo~ at 6:12 PM
Labels: Bella Twins, Bray Wyatt, Concussion Syndrome, George Barrios, John Cena, Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, Shane McMahon, Vince McMahon, WrestleMania, WWE, WWE Network, WWE NXT
April 4, 2016
WWE Network Reaches Record 1.82 Million Subscribers
WWE today announced that its digital subscription service, WWE Network, reached a record 1.82 million total subscribers following last night’s WrestleMania®, the most viewed WrestleMania in history. This is a 39% increase from March 30, 2015, the day after WrestleMania last year.
“History was made last night with both a record-setting crowd at AT&T Stadium and more households than ever before watching WrestleMania on WWE Network,” said WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon. “WWE Network continues to drive transformative growth for our company.”
“Results today further demonstrate the power of our brand, illustrate our potential to drive long-term growth and provide evidence that we are effectively executing our multi-platform content strategy,” said George Barrios, WWE Chief Strategy & Financial Officer...More?
March 2, 2016
Three WWE Execs Trump McMahon’s 2015 Pay
Three executives of World Wrestling Entertainment received the first of two big stock awards — the 2015 installment totaling $3.1 million — to keep them on board and reward their extra duties as the Stamford-based company builds up its WWE Network.
The stock awards to George Barrios, Kevin Dunn and Michelle Wilson pushed their total compensation past that received by CEO Vince McMahon, with Dunn getting $4.8 million as executive producer and Barrios receiving $4.5 million in his role as chief financial and strategy officer.
Wilson’s $4.5 million payday as chief revenue and marketing officer bumped the company’s film division head Michael Luisi from the lineup of the top-paid WWE executives, with Luisi making $1.9 million in 2014 as president of WWE Studios.
WWE (NYSE: WWE) paid McMahon $3.3 million, a 37 percent increase from 2014, with McMahon controlling 94 percent of WWE’s class B shares that wield 10 votes on corporate matters to every one vote awarded to holders of class A shares that are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, and which are convertible to class A shares.
Paul Levesque received $3.1 million, including $1.7 million from his “Triple H” persona performing at WWE events. Levesque is executive vice president of talent, live events and creative at WWE.
WWE’s compensation committee is chaired by Frank Riddick III, CEO of FloWorks International, a Houston-based pipe and valve supplier. The largest holder of WWE’s class A stock is Lindsell Train, a fund based in London, which held 16 percent of the outstanding shares at last report.
WWE scheduled its annual meeting for April 21, 2016, at the Hilton Stamford Hotel in Stamford.
source: stamfordadvocate.com
~ Kayfabe by
Kaliqo~
at
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Labels: George Barrios, Kevin Dunn, Michelle Wilson, Triple H, Vince McMahon, WWE
February 11, 2016
WWE Conference Call: Vince McMahon discusses the fourth quarter financial report
ince McMahon and members of senior management served as the hosts of a conference call pertaining to the 2015 fourth quarter financial report that was released on February 11, 2016. The following are the highlights of the call. Refresh the page for the latest updates.
-The call is hosted by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, WWE Chief Strategy and Financial Officer George Barrios, and WWE Investor Relations Michael Weitz.
-Vince said they produced a record year with $659 million in revenue. He touted the success of WWE on Youtube and the WWE Network. Vince said the average WWE Network subscriber watches more hours of content on the network than any cable network.
-Barrios ran through the highlights of the earnings report presentation. Barrios said they are continuing to work on network launch plans in their three remaining markets China, The Philippines, and Thailand.
-Live events profits are up 9 percent in attendance and 13 percent in ticket prices. NXT becoming a touring brand was touted as one of the factors in the increase.
-Barrios also boasted about the company’s social media success.
-Barrios stressed that WrestleMania will occur on April 3, meaning that it will fall in the second quarter rather than the first quarter as it did last year.
-WWE will release the next WWE subscriber count the day after WrestleMania.
-Once Barrios finished, they opened it up for calls.
December 11, 2015
WWE to start online streaming in Japan
World Wrestling Entertainment, the U.S.'s largest pro wrestling and entertainment company, on Jan. 5 will start a streaming service in Japan.
WWE Network will allow Japanese Internet users to view unlimited hours of professional wrestling, including live matches, for $9.99 a month.
Until now, WWE fans in the country have had to subscribe to satellite or cable TV services to catch matches.
Even events that are billed as pay-per-view elsewhere will be available at no additional cost.
Subscribers will also have on-demand access to more than 4,000 hours of past and current WWE footage as well as to video of events put on by now defunct wrestling organizations. The library includes matches involving legendary stars.
The streaming service will be offered in English. But, George Barrios, the WWE's chief strategy and financial officer, said, "over time we will decide if it makes sense for us to translate some of the content" into Japanese.
The WWE Network will also feature matches from the NXT circuit, a stable of up-and-coming athletes that includes Japanese wrestlers Hideo Itami and Asuka, a female wrestler.
The network started streaming in the U.S. in February 2014, then began expanding abroad that summer. The WWE Network currently has some 1.3 million subscribers, around 20% of whom live outside the U.S., according to Barrios.
The WWE Network ranks fifth among U.S. online streaming services, after Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and Major League Baseball's MLB.TV, according to Parks Associates, a market research and consulting company.
Barrios is upbeat about the service's potential in Japan. "Japan has a long wrestling tradition," he said. "We have a very loyal and passionate fan base. Japan is very, very important for our global strategy."
November 13, 2015
WWE Network Debuting In Another Country Soon
WWE announced today that WWE Network will begin streaming in Germany on Tuesday, January 5th, 2016. New subscribers get their first month free. WWE's Chief Strategy & Financial Officer George Barrios commented:
"Germany is a strategically important market for WWE with a passionate and engaged fan base. We are committed to growing our brand internationally, and global expansion of WWE Network is critical to achieving that goal.
October 29, 2015
WWE Conference Call: Vince McMahon discusses the third quarter financial report
Vince McMahon and members of senior management served as the hosts of a conference call pertaining to the 2015 third quarter financial report that was released on October 29, 2015. The following are the highlights of the call.
-The call is hosted by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, WWE Chief Strategy and Financial Officer George Barrios, and WWE Investor Relations Michael Weitz.
-Vince touted the successful quarter and touted some of the WWE Network content. He said the NXT live specials do extremely well for them. He also spoke positively about the Best in the East special and the MSG special.
-WWE Network will launch in Japan and Germany in January.
-Vince said WWE Network is the most viewed channel on Youtube. He said that's "really important for us."
-Barrios read through the financial presentation, then opened up the line for phone calls.
-One of the themes Barrios emphasized was what WWE business would be like if the network grew at the same rate as Netflix. He was quick to point out that he wasn't forecasting that.
-Barrios said they like the $9.99 price because its easy to message and understand. He pointed to Netflix having difference price points. He noted that they could eventually do the same, but it did not sound like anything is imminent.
~ Kayfabe by Kaliqo~ at 7:50 PM
Labels: George Barrios, Television Ratings, Vince McMahon, WWE, WWE Network, WWE NXT, WWE YouTube
October 23, 2015
WWE Network Launches In India
Beginning Monday, November 2, WWE Network will be available in India for $9.99 (U.S.) per month, with no commitment and the ability to cancel any time. Fans in India can sign up online by going to WWENetwork.com and can watch WWE Network on their desktop, laptop and mobile devices.
WWE Network subscribers in India will receive their first month of service free and have access to the U.S. English language version of WWE Network. Subscribers will get access to 24/7 scheduled programming and the most comprehensive video-on-demand library with more than 3,700 hours of content, including Raw® and SmackDown® re-airs, and every WWE, WCW™ and ECW™ pay-per-view. In addition, all 12 WWE pay-per-views will be available to subscribers 24 hours after they air in India, and will be broadcast live on WWE Network beginning in 2017.
“India is a strategically important market for WWE and we are thrilled to make WWE Network available to our fans there,” said George Barrios, WWE Chief Strategy & Financial Officer. “The global expansion of WWE Network is a key driver in our commitment to growing the WWE brand internationally.”
July 30, 2015
WWE Conference Call: Vince McMahon discusses the second quarter financial report
Vince McMahon and members of senior management served as the hosts of a conference call pertaining to the 2015 second quarter financial report that was released on July 30, 2015. The following are the highlights of the call. Refresh the page for the latest updates.
-The call is hosted by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, WWE Chief Strategy and Financial Officer George Barrios, and WWE Investor Relations Michael Weitz. Weitz ran through the legalities and reminded listeners that WrestleMania fell in the second quarter this year, whereas it occurred in the first quarter last year.
-Vince said listeners could see they had a strong quarter. He pointed to improved international numbers and touted the WWE Network subscriber count compared to the same quarter last year. He also hyped the new WWE Network content. Vince struggled to come up with the name of HBO's "Hard Knocks" and said WWE is trying to come up with a better name than that.
-Vince said "Camp WWE" is the WWE version of South Park. He said it's very funny, and cracked that the Mr. McMahon character is especially funny.
-Barrios took over the call and spoke about how WWE is successfully transforming their pay-per-view business into a subscription mode. Barrios ran through the presentation.
-Barrios said the network had roughly 217,000 paid international subscribers.
-Barrios said Too Hot For TV, Swerved, and the Stone Cold podcast are among the most popular programs on the network. He also boasted about the success of the Beast in the East live special.
-Barrios praised the free month campaign. He said one month is the amount of time that subscribers need to become familiar with it.
-WWE plans to release a three-month subscription card that will be sold in retail stores and can be used without offering credit card information.
-Barrios noted that they will not be including an updated subscriber count today. The next subscriber count will be released at the end of the third quarter.
-They opened things up to callers. The first caller noted that they want to produce 180 hours of new programming. He questioned whether there will be increases over their previously listed costs associated with new programming. Barrios said it's materially unchanged.
-A caller asked about new markets getting WWE Network. Barrios said he didn't want to get into specifics.
-A caller asked whether they are making more money with the subscription model than pay-per-view. Barrios said 1.3 to 1.4 million subscribers would get them there.
-The caller asked Vince about the difference between Facebook and Youtube. Barrios said he would take it. He said they have nearly 7 million subscribers on Youtube. He said they are one of the leaders of direct video, and he said they are talking to Facebook and they are in beta mode. "We know how to kill it doing videos, so we're excited about the opportunity," Barrios said. Vince added, "It's a high class problem."
-Vince said they need to develop programming for all four quadrants of their age demographics.
-A caller asked about interest in Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. Barrios said they are thrilled with SummerSlam. "It's starting to feel like WrestleMania in August," he said. Vince said it's so strong they moved it to four hours this year. "It's so much great content that we had to do that," Vince said.
-The caller also asked whether they intend to more live specials similar to Beast in the East. Barrios raved about Beast in the East and said they will "continue to more and innovate in that programming because it's just been in a home run."
-The caller asked about developing the NXT franchise. Barrios sang the praises of the brand under Triple H's direction.
-Vince said they are confident with the development of talent from NXT. He spoke about the number of talents going from developmental to the main events.
-Hulk Hogan came up in regards to merchandise. Vince noted that Hogan is "no longer with the association" and downplayed it's "material effect."
-With no additional callers, this concluded the conference call.
July 12, 2015
WWE HQ turmoil: one executive fired by Vince McMahon, another one leaves of his own accord
In a worrying sign for WWE investors, the quick turnaround of high ranking executives within the company has continued over the past month with one being fired by Vince McMahon and another leaving of his own accord.
Outside of family members whose jobs are guaranteed for life and big hitters like WWE's Chief Marketing Officer Michelle Wilson and their Chief Strategy and Financial Officer George Barrios (whose jobs are likely secured in the short term due to being named in the WWE stockholders lawsuit along with Vince and Stephanie McMahon), the past five years has been marked by a series of corporate departures, particularly in roles related to the company's creative direction.
The first sign of increased volatility at WWE headquarters was seen by the shocking resignation of WWE's COO Donna Goldsmith in late January 2011, believed to be tied to the disappointing financial results of the preceding quarter, despite having earlier success in her role through landing the company's lucrative Mattel deal.
Michael Pavone, the Executive Vice President of the money bleeding WWE Studios division was not surprisingly the next victim, resigning from his position in August 2011. However, worse bloodletting was yet to come.
With slowly eroding television viewership and the teething pains of setting up their own online channel, the WWE Network, executive turnover has spiralled out of control since the autumn of 2012.
Brian Gewirtz, the long time head writer of Monday Night Raw was the first to be punished on the creative side of things when he was removed from the writing team and demoted to a mere consultancy role on Oct. 8th, 2012 over poor ratings. Next to fall out of favour was WWE's SVP of Creative and Development, Eric Pankowski, who was let go after just 15 months in the position in March 2013. Pankowski's replacement, Adam Rudman, lasted just six weeks in the job before Stephanie McMahon gave him his marching orders, likely due to his limited knowledge of the WWE product. The next head writer, David Kreizman, wanted out almost immediately upon being promoted, but was convinced to stay on for a few months longer.
In 2014, it was largely the people involved in the launch of the WWE Network that either got out while the going was good or were given their pink slip.
First to go was WWE's Vice President of Global Sales, Brian Maddox, in January of that year when he accepted a job as a Vice President at Silver Chalice Ventures, a next generation digital/video sports media company. You may remember Maddox as being the backtracking whistleblower known as Confidential Witness Number 1 or CW1 for short in the aforementioned WWE stockholders lawsuit.
WWE's Executive Vice President of Digital Media, Perkins Miller, was next to follow Maddox out the door, in order to take a job with the NFL as their new Chief Digital Officer in the spring of 2014.
Unlike Maddox and Miller, WWE's EVP of Programming, Matthew Singerman wasn't so lucky, getting the chop after just six months in the newly created role, a scapegoat for the WWE Network performing well below expectations in its early days of existence.
Basically, there's been so many departures of late that it's hard to keep track, so forgive me if I've forgotten anyone of importance.
Now, there's two more. The MLW twitter account broke the news yesterday that WWE had recently fired their Executive Vice President of Content, Lisa Fox Lee, after just six months in the role like Singerman.
Lee was someone who had worked for WWE since she left university over two decades ago, starting in their television and sponsorship sales division in March 1995 and gradually being promoted up the ranks to VP, SVP and EVP roles in TV and later Network programming. According to James Caldwell of PWTorch.com, the move in January to put all of the main content divisions under one umbrella quickly became viewed as a mistake internally and Lee struggled with her greater responsibility and workload:
"Regarding Lee, WWE went through a six-month trial run of having Lee oversee Creative, digital programming, and Network programming. The goal was to put all of the main content departments under one umbrella. But, it did not pan out....
The main issue is that before her promotion, Lee worked for WWE in various mid-level jobs contributing to TV & PPV content delivery, sales, and social media, but she did not have experience as a key decision-maker in WWE upper management.
Promoting Lee to a high-ranking executive position was viewed internally as a rash decision trying to put all of WWE's content arms under one person. And, WWE employees viewed Lee as the wrong person for the role if such a role was to be created.
The decision was made to fire Lee instead of demote her back to her previous position. It appears that sitting in on meetings with McMahon, who Lee was suddenly reporting to, led to her demise since she was no longer protected in a mid-management role.
After cutting Lee, WWE shifted back to individual content departments reporting to various executives, removing the "one umbrella for all content" approach just six months after the new set-up."
Caldwell also broke the news that WWE's Senior Vice President of Digital Content, Rob Bernstein, has left the company for a more senior position with IPG - Mediabrands Publishing, a global media agency. Unlike Lee, internally this is being viewed as a major loss for WWE's digital media division, as he was instrumental in monetising WWE's YouTube channel, launching their offshoot YouTube gaming channel UpUpDownDown that stars Austin "Xavier Woods" Creed, overseeing the development of the WWE App and growing the WWE.com website.
The latest episode of Titan Towers turmoil begs several important questions about WWE as a business. Why can't they retain the services of their most gifted executives like Miller and Bernstein? Why do they hire or promote people so ill-suited to key positions that they are fired in less than six months? Is Vince McMahon so difficult to work with and so whimsical in his thinking nowadays that he has become a detriment to the day-to-day running of WWE, even though his instincts as a promoter has a proven track record of being second to none?
source: cagesideseats.com
April 30, 2015
WWE Q1 Earnings Call Recap: WrestleMania Success, Network Price Increase?, Total Divas, More
* George Barrios mentions they released their quarterly financial results on their website earlier.
* WrestleMania happened in quarter 1 of 2015, as opposed to quarter 2 2014. This has an effect on the huge profits.
* WrestleMania was the highest grossing live event in WWE history.
* Total Divas was E! network's number one show. Vince McMahon says this is because the Kardashians were on hiatus.
* McMahon mentions Smackdown will move to USA, and thinks that will improve viewership alone.
* McMahon jokingly invites listeners to join Tough Enough.
* 196,000 WWE Network subscribers were international. 94 percent of subscribers access the Network at least once a month.
* "From inception to 3/31/15, WWE Network had attracted nearly 1.8M unique subscribers w/ 74% of subscribers active as of that date"- George Barrios. They aren't going to update subscriber numbers on this call.
* Barrios repeatedly mentioned that WrestleMania was in Q1 this year instead of Q2.
* WWE video game profits improved over 30 percent. WWE Supercard is mentioned as a contributor. PPV revenue was also ahead of expectations.
* The Q&A portion starts. WWE says they're always looking at expanding the advertising model for the Network, but doesn't think it'll be in 2015.
* McMahon says it's possible they could change the price of the Network for WrestleMania or Summerslam, but have to look at the info. He says as of now they're not, but it's possible in the future.
* Most of the WrestleMania PPV buys were international, according to Barrios.
* "Advertisers aren't interested in simple rating. Our programming is engaging. Not just an experience, but immersive."- McMahon
* Laura Martin calls Vince McMahon the best business man of anyone she covers.
* Someone's phone goes off, and their alert tone was Michael Cole yelling "Oh my!"
* Barrios is asked what they've learned incrementally about the sources of churn. Barrios says he doesn't think they've learned anything.
* CableVision in Canada is targeting for cutters. This could open up the possibilities for more deals with Rogers, but they say the Canadian model is different.
~ Kayfabe by Kaliqo~ at 9:47 PM
Labels: Divas, Gaming, George Barrios, Total Divas, Vince McMahon, WrestleMania, WWE, WWE Network, WWE Womens Division
WWE Reports Record Quarterly Revenue
WWE today announced financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2015. For the quarter, the Company reported Net income of $9.8 million, or $0.13 per share, compared to a Net loss of $8.0 million, or $0.11 per share, in the first quarter last year.
“During the quarter, we generated record quarterly revenue and strong earnings growth, reflecting our strategy to realize greater value from our content across multiple platforms,” said WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon. “We believe that we are on a path to significant growth as we continue to expand WWE Network and innovate faster than ever.”
“Our strong earnings growth was driven primarily by the escalation of our television rights fees and the expansion of WWE Network subscribers. For the quarter, our OIBDA surpassed our public guidance,” added George Barrios, Chief Strategy & Financial Officer. “WWE Network subscribers watched an estimated average of 53 hours of content per household over the quarter putting it among Netflix and the top cable and broadcast networks in terms of viewer hours per household. Additionally, WrestleMania 31 was viewed in more homes globally than ever before. Our ability to engage our global fan base reinforces our view that successful execution of our WWE Network strategy can generate meaningful economic returns.”
March 30, 2015
WWE Stock Crashes After Record-Breaking WrestleMania 31
Fans may be happy about World Wrestling Entertainment’s 31st annual WrestleMania blowout, but investors are not.
WWE stock fell more than 14% on Monday morning after Seth Rollins stole the World Heavyweight Championship belt from Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns. The dive probably has less to do with what happened in the ring, than how many fans were watching–and subscribing to more wrestling.
WWE announced that its “over-the-top” television network has grown to 1.3 million subscribers, up 31% from January 27, when the company passed 1 million for the first time. That’s tremendous growth for a product that costs $9.99 a month. But it clearly wasn’t enough to impress Wall Street.
“We believe that exceeding 1.3 million subscribers reflects the successful execution of our strategy and puts us on the path to transformative growth through WWE Network,” (former billionaire) WWE CEO Vince McMahon said in a statement.
WWE CFO George Barrios admitted that while the company is “pleased with our short-term results” and “confident in the long-term potential,” subscriber count may “exhibit seasonality” in which customers pay for the service in the run up to big events like WrestleMania and drop it during the slower months.
One successful tactic in February was a free promotion that attracted 201,000 trial subscribers to WWE Network. 154,000 (77%) of those converted to paying subscribers in March.
This isn’t the first time a subscriber update at WrestleMania sunk WWE’s stock. One year ago, the stock plunged 19% the day after WWE’s biggest show. WWE kept falling and hit bottom in May, losing 60% of the company’s value in a month and a half. The stock had rebounded 46% since then before Monday.
source: forbes.com
WWE Call Recap With Vince McMahon: Bringing Sting From Obscurity, Mania Build, Network, Pricing
Vince McMahon, George Barrios and Michael Weitz hosted a post-WrestleMania 31 conference call today from WWE headquarters in Stamford. Below are some highlights:
* Weitz kicks off the call and mentions WrestleMania 31 being a success. He goes over the call and hands it over to Vince.
* Vince says WrestleMania 31 was a big success and touts the attendance. Vince also touts the social media activity, mainly over 140 worldwide trends. He says WrestleMania was a big contributor to WWE Network growth and says they have now surpassed 1.3 million subscribers. Talks about the new programming coming to the WWE Network and says the Divas Search will be successful. He calls the new Camp WWE show with Seth Green "South Park with WWE" with WWE stars as children off to camp.
* Barrios takes over and also touts the new WWE Network programming coming soon, saying the Diva Search will span the globe to find the next talent. He noted that they had 201,000 trial subscribers in February and 77% of those converted into paid subscribers for March. He touted the 1.3 million subscribers and said their longterm goal is 3-4 million. They're going to be adding another 1,000 hours of on-demand footage soon.
* It's time for the Q&A. The first caller gives Vince props for having Ronda Rousey on WrestleMania, bringing up WWE using more mainstream names and asks if that means more cost. Vince said their budgets haven't changed but the success of the Network and being ahead of everyone else helps them land bigger names to work with. For the second time in the call they mentioned other brands starting their own networks because of WWE's success.
* Barrios wouldn't reveal the number of users who had the free month in November that are still paid subscribers. Barrios is confident about the new shows they announced being successful.
* Barrios talked about China and India eventually becoming big markets for the company and the Network. He feels next year will be big for them in India.
* They may look into different price points in the future but they're happy with the $9.99 price right now.
* They started talking with Tapout three years ago and are excited for the partnership. We'll see more Tapout promotion on WWE TV as they get closer to putting the products in stores, which should be next year.
* The international subscription numbers will be released in the quarterly report.
* They had no problems with WrestleMania 31 streaming and the new WrestleMania Experience campaign with Facebook was a success.
* Regarding frustrations over the WrestleMania build-up, Vince acknowledged WWE will always have its doubters and said the build to WrestleMania was more of a last minute thing but that's how WWE does it sometimes. Vince said WrestleMania always tops itself.
* Vince said they do target Males 18-34 but they have programming that targets all demographics and some of the new programming is designed to do just that.
* Vince gave props to their marketing abilities when talking about Sting. Vince said they brought Sting from obscurity to a major WWE attraction.
* They're about fully distributed in Canada.