WWE News: Will WWE Have Trouble Keeping One-Million WWE Network Subscribers?
WWE just experienced one of the strangest weeks in wrestling history. The Royal Rumble pay-per-view turned a select-number of WWE fans away from the product, which included thousands of subscriptions being cancelled after the pay-per-view. In fact, the hashtag “#CancelWWENetwork” trended worldwide at No. 1 and No. 2 for nearly 48 hours.
However, after the hashtag dissipated, the WWE finally reached the one million-subscriber mark they tried months to attain this week. It certainly helped that the WWE Network went live in the United Kingdom and Ireland a couple of weeks ago. One person that Vince McMahon gives credit to for the one-millionth subscriber is Roman Reigns.
Amidst the joy of WWE’s goal being reached, there is some apprehension about the WWE keeping those numbers alive. 24/7 Wall Street posted an article about the WWE and their WWE Network numbers. It highlights the growth, but also talks about the hardest part of having the subscription-based network, the maintaining of those customers.
“WWE’s network has been up and running for just under a year and to reach 1 million subscribers in that time is no small achievement. The trick is going to be keeping them. Otherwise, the company will have to resort to more promotional pricing to keep churning up new subscribers.”
“The company is scheduled to report fourth-quarter and full-year results next week, and analysts are expecting an earnings per share loss of $0.08 on revenues of $135.42 million for the quarter and an earnings per share loss of $0.47 on revenues of $537.56 million for the full-year.”
Looking solely at the numbers, WWE did fairly well last quarter. The PPV buyrates will continue to go down with the WWE Network pulling so many customers away from pay-per-view purchasing. E-Wrestling News talked about the latest WWE Network subscription numbers.
Some 285,000 new people signed up for the WWE Network, but 254,000 subscribers cancelled it after the Royal Rumble pay-per-view. That’s why the company ended at the disappointing 723,174 total. Evidently, the WWE Network is still going strong, and there’s no end in sight for the original content they continue to put out.
Despite the hatred towards the Royal Rumble match, the majority of the WWE fans will keep the WWE Network and watch every program they can. Most true WWE fans don’t stop watching after one match. Granted, in extreme cases that could occur. The rumored WrestleMania 31 main event is Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns. Even if that does come true, WWE fans from around the world will still tune in, and that’s all Vince McMahon is concerned about.
[Image via ringscoops.com]
