WWE News: The WWE Network Now Has 1 Million Subscribers
The WWE issued a press release and statement on WWE.com today, announcing that their digital subscription service, WWE Network, has reached the 1-million-subscribers milestone.
The news comes just a day after the network was receiving all kinds of bad press. The hashtag #CancelWWENetwork that was trending on Twitter following the fan outrage surrounding the Royal Rumble became such a hot topic that TIME even picked up on the story.
The WWE Network launched in February 2014 to mixed reviews. Low subscriber counts over the past year caused the WWE stock price to plummet. The service has been built upon the premise that fans would be crazy to not subscribe, given the fact that all WWE pay-per-view events are aired live on the network for the subscription price of $9.99 a month. Previously, fans would have to shell out over $50 dollars for each WWE pay-per-view offering. The loss in traditional pay per view revenue by airing each event live on the WWE Network has been the WWE’s achilles heel since the launch of the WWE Network.
BREAKING: @WWENetwork reaches ONE MILLION subscribers!#ThankYouWWEUniverse!
DETAILS: http://t.co/sxT649yHhb pic.twitter.com/WKmx6m1YVH— WWE (@WWE) January 27, 2015
The struggle to convert much of its fan base to subscribe to the WWE Network lies partially in the new technology used to view the content. Upon it’s initial launch, many fans were confused as to how to get the service on their television versus watching on their laptops, cell phones, tablets, and computers. WWE started a PR campaign to compare their WWE Network service to streaming services like Netflix to clear up any confusion amongst their fan base. Slowly, the subscriber count has started to tick up, especially as the network has expanded it’s reach around the globe. The WWE Network recently launched in the United Kingdom, traditionally a very strong market for the WWE.
In a statement today on WWE.com, WWE touts that their new subscriber milestone makes the WWE Network the fastest growing digital subscription service in history.
“WWE announced today that WWE Network has surpassed 1 million subscribers — reaching this mark in just 11 months thanks to the support of the WWE Universe, which made it the fastest-growing digital subscription service ever.”
The statement also features comments from WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon.
“We’re thrilled that we’ve surpassed the 1 million subscriber milestone less than a year after launching WWE Network and in advance of WrestleMania, our biggest event of the year on March 29. We remain focused on delivering an outstanding value proposition for ours fans by adding new content and new features in the coming year.”
Yesterday, the WWE Network launched a new reality series called WWE24, a show that today’s WWE press release notes “offers fans unprecedented ‘day in the life’ looks into WWE’s biggest events.” The first episode, available on demand now on the WWE Network, takes a look behind the scenes at last year’s WrestleMania 30 event in New Orleans, Louisiana.
[Image via YouTube]
