WWE News: Recap Of Vince McMahon Conference Call, Update On WWE Network
WWE fans want answers. That’s been the story since the Reality Era came into play. The internet opened up plentiful resources for the WWE, as well as the fans. Social media plays an integral part in that, which is where the questions are asked. Any WWE fan can open up Twitter, for example. On that platform, they can tweet the WWE anything they want. Before, officials simply got their answers of what the audience wanted. Now, social media has become a powerful thing.
The on-screen product is certainly succeeding, but so is the WWE Network. Inside the conference call, McMahon talked about the critically-acclaimed WWE Network and its subscriber count. Daily Wrestling News is reporting the WWE Network subscriber count is up since last quarter.
“WWE reported today that the WWE Network averaged 1.52 million paid subscribers during the second quarter of this year. They previously announced 1.454 million paid subscribers the day after WrestleMania 32.
“WWE is projecting 1.49 million paid subscribers for Q3 2016.”
Social media is more of a one-way street. WWE correspondents that survey the platforms can figure out what fans are saying, but it’s not reciprocal. However, the quarterly conference calls are a great way for WWE fans to find out more in-depth information about the company they support. Vince McMahon is usually at the forefront and he was again on Thursday. Daily Wrestling News put together a recap of that conference call, which included the real reason for the brand split.
“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 quite amazing how the WWE listened to its fanbase and reacted accordingly. Although, talent was lost just before the brand split occurred. Wade Barrett and Cody Rhodes would shine like a bright star on SmackDown Live if they hadn’t left for greener pastures a few months ago. Having too much talent is a great thing, but one show wasn’t enough to showcase all of it. On WWE SmackDown Tuesday, those women, singles’ stars and NXT wrestlers wouldn’t get any time on just WWE Raw.
There was a time when the network wasn’t as big as it is. It’s only a couple of years old, but that’s not the main reason. When the WWE Network began, it was talked about by wrestlers in the back that it may affect their pay-per-view bonuses. While not many of them wanted to know more information, it was CM Punk that began asking the questions in the back.
It wasn’t the only thing Punk was curious about, which is what he’s starting to become infamous for. The WWE Network is an innovator for specials, because pay-per-views that used to cost $50, now only cost $9.99 a month for everything on the network. McMahon did say they have about 6,000 hours of content currently on the streaming service.
One thing a lot of WWE fans want is more documentaries on the network, but it makes sense that they are separate entities. When a ton of criticism surrounded the product the moment it started, WWE officials remained positive. It’s looks like that optimism is paying off.
[Image via wwe.com]
