So the WWE Network is available on desktop and laptop computers in Canada for Rogers subscribers officially. Just need a Rogers account and a WWE.com account and you're good to go.
Wasn't that 93000 number a fake attendance number?
Likely. The common disputed response with an attendance is something like 78,000 attended, with 75,000 paid. I somewhat dispute that too. I get why the 93,000 number is faked (gotta beat the Pope!), but given that the Silverdome held 80,000 capacity, and looking at that show, I don't think 80,000-85,000 would be out of the question. But maybe that 78,000 number is accurate. They really struggled in Detroit leading up to the show. I think there was a show in January that had a disaster of a crowd.
The problem with the WWE network is that you have lots of people willing to watch WWE on TV. You have a much smaller group willing to pay for it.
This. They have 700,000 subscribers, and about 3 million people, give or take, watch RAW each week in the States. It's a show most of the people who watch just keep to that. It'd be like trying to start a specialty Reality TV subscription channel (online or otherwise) on the basis of how many people watch American Idol or Amazing Race.
They're actually making less money than they were on PPV simply because they needed to reach far more people, and they haven't been able to. The stock price reflects that.
They're not just making less money, their OIBDA has been in the negatives in 2014. They've basically cannibalized their PPV revenue (a form of revenue that I don't buy was dying to begin with) for their Network. And, as mentioned in the previous post, they're learning the hard way how little people watch wrestling these days beyond RAW (if that).
I'm still wishing that the wwe move all their shows like Raw & Smackdown off of TV and strictly on to the WWE Network a one stop shop of sorts.
It'd be disastrous for them. Only their diehards would watch then. I know a few people in Quebec who were strong WWE followers while RAW was still on TSN. After the WWE pissed off TSN...errr....I mean, TSN dropped the WWE unceremoniously, they went to the Score, which killed off their Quebec viewership, in particular for those who have Videotron. So much so that instead of when RAW and Smackdown used to hit Toronto and Montreal (not necessarily respectively, as Montreal would get RAW often), Ottawa would get a show alongside Toronto instead. Coupled with no French WWE TV anymore, and the WWE market in Quebec is essentially dead.
RAW and Smackdown are basically infomercials for people to buy other things (PPVs, the Network, tickets to shows, merch, etc.). No different than how sports operates in that sense. You kill off your traditional TV shows, it hurts your advertising, in more ways than one. Can't put your eggs in one basket.
Honestly, I don't mind have the WWE Network tied to my TV. You don't have to worry about the internet stream going down, especially for the PPV events, you can record any program on a PVR and it's convenient to have it on my Aliant bill. I already pay for TV, internet and phone. Just add $12 to the bill.
I'm the same way, and as Rogers customer, with the news I posted at the top of the message, I get the best of both worlds. To be honest, I was kinda relieved that Rogers had a tie-in to the Network, since the thing I wanted the most was uninterrupted access to PPVs, something we don't have yet with internet (we will eventually, it's just not guaranteed now). The cheaper PPVs is the selling point for me (as well as NXT, which has a nice old school feel). Don't get me wrong, I still think it's insane that they essentially shrunk the price that low. But as a paying customer, I won't complain.