World Wrestling Entertainment launched its on-demand live streaming WWE Network in late February, and while not all of the content is up yet and the number of subscriptions was initially seen as a disappointment, WWE CFO George Barrios revealed some promising news for the network.
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According to Wrestlingheadlines.com, Barrios appeared in a presentation at the Global Technology, Media & Telecom conference in Boston this week and revealed some future plans for the WWE Network as well as how many subscriptions the company has garnered and expects to have in the future.
Barrios revealed that the WWE Monday Night Wars is set to debut on the network in the fall. The show delves into the war between WWE Monday Night RAW and WCW Monday Nitro back at the height of professional wrestling's peak in the mid-1990s to early 2000s.
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The show, a popular staple on the now defunct WWE 24/7 network, shows the full episodes of RAW and Nitro that aired head-to-head on the same night as each other back during the ratings wars between WWE and WCW.
With the WWE Network, the WWE streams its pay-per-views for subscribers, and Barrios said at the meeting that the company will need 1.3-1.4 million subscribers to break-even assuming they lose all of their pay-per-view business from local carriers due to the network. He said he believes the company will break 2-4 million subscribers globally within 2-3 years.
After experiencing rough patches during launch week, Barrios said the WWE monitors the network "by the second" and that they had about 500,000 subscribers during March 30 and the number jumped to 667,000 subscribers on April 6 for WrestleMania XXX. The company intends to announce the number of subscriptions quarterly.
The company hasn't made a decision on running ads on the network, but it has been discussed. The WWE has deals with places like Roku and Apple where fans can subscribe through those platforms. According to the report, Apple receives 30% of any subscribers made through them.
The WWE Network has had its share of problems and may be underwhelming from a numbers standpoint thus far, but Barrios and the WWE are optimistic about its future.
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