Network is in a place where if you take away the big 4 now after 6 years, you go from getting 9.99 guaranteed a month, to getting $0 ever when I or others stop being lazy and actually cancel.
WWE's co-presidents George Barrios & Michelle Wilson have just been fired
- Thread starter THE 101
- Start date
So I used 5 emails and 3 cards for some shyt I could had squashed with one card and my gmail
Meh...just wooo it
After a brutal day of trading on Friday, World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. WWE 4.16% traded lower by another 4.7% on Monday following the unexpected departure of two top executives. Several analysts cut price targets for WWE following the news, but a downgrade by Morgan Stanley likely hit the stock particularly hard.
On the afternoon of Jan. 30, WWE announced Co-Presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson are leaving the company effective immediately. In addition, WWE said it expects to report $180 million in full-year adjusted OIBDA, the low end of its guidance range of $180 million to $190 million. Analysts had been anticipating $186.6 million.
Morgan Stanley Weighs In
Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne downgraded WWE to Equal-Weight and cut his price target from $80 to $54. Swinburne said the timing and circumstances surrounding the management shuffle are particularly concerning.
“The unexpected and immediate departure of WWE’s long standing co-presidents, George Barrios and Michelle Wilson yesterday with no transition period and minimal explanation creates enough uncertainty in the future of the business that we can no longer support an Overweight rating,” he wrote in the Jan. 31 note.
Uncertainty Ahead
Swinburne said there are now three major sources of uncertainty for WWE investors:
Swinburne said WWE’s earnings multiple will likely remain pressured unless the company hires at least one well-known operating executive with a strong track record in a timely fashion.
On the afternoon of Jan. 30, WWE announced Co-Presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson are leaving the company effective immediately. In addition, WWE said it expects to report $180 million in full-year adjusted OIBDA, the low end of its guidance range of $180 million to $190 million. Analysts had been anticipating $186.6 million.
Morgan Stanley Weighs In
Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne downgraded WWE to Equal-Weight and cut his price target from $80 to $54. Swinburne said the timing and circumstances surrounding the management shuffle are particularly concerning.
“The unexpected and immediate departure of WWE’s long standing co-presidents, George Barrios and Michelle Wilson yesterday with no transition period and minimal explanation creates enough uncertainty in the future of the business that we can no longer support an Overweight rating,” he wrote in the Jan. 31 note.
Uncertainty Ahead
Swinburne said there are now three major sources of uncertainty for WWE investors:
- Barrios and Wilson had each been with WWE for more than a decade, and the company is now lacking senior leadership as CEO Vince McMahon is set to re-launch the XFL starting next weekend.
- WWE’s investment outlook, which some analysts speculate was the cause of management’s dispute with the board, and its capital allocation plans now seem extremely uncertain in the near-term.
- The departure of top executives without warning and without a clear path forward jeopardizes WWE’s key partnerships, including its relationships with media companies like Fox Corp FOX 1.47%, sponsors like Progressive Corp PGR 1.1% and key talent like Roman Reigns.
Swinburne said WWE’s earnings multiple will likely remain pressured unless the company hires at least one well-known operating executive with a strong track record in a timely fashion.
Yeah if Morgan Stanley downgraded, this is headed even further down. There is NO way, and I mean NO WAY, WWE juelz their way out of the myriad of issues around the company on the earnings call. They are going to be pressed, and we already know they are not going to be able to come up with good explanations.
How they defend the Network decline:
"bu bu bu WM right around the corner, everyone always signs up, and let's see how many we retain after WM season"
"this is what you said last year, and here we are with lower subscriber count"
".................. hey we revamped the site design recently
"
How they defend the Network decline:
"bu bu bu WM right around the corner, everyone always signs up, and let's see how many we retain after WM season"
"this is what you said last year, and here we are with lower subscriber count"
".................. hey we revamped the site design recently
"
lol. Ya'll are crazy.
Think about this....I NEVER ordered PPV. I'd wait for 2 months until WM came out on Blu-ray then I'd buy it for $20.
Other than ticket sales to actual shows, I'd hadnt spent more than $20/year on WWE since the early 2000's. Now I spend $100+ dollars a year on the Network.
The declining subs, if true, have nothing to do with the network being a failure. It was a failure at first, then it picked up. The declinetho now is due to fan apathy due to piss poor writing. I dont even watch the network to be honest, but it's nice to have the backlog. I havent watched a full RAW in years and the new SD I havent watched since the first coupel weeks. I saw an alert on my phone Sat that they had a dog food match and I saw a screen cap preview of Crobin covered in dog food. How do you think that looks to a RANDOM person flipping thru channels on a Friday night and seeing someone covering in gross looking dog food? Or ur at a bar and that's on the TV screen. It also makes actual fans somewhat embarrassed. You wanna know why subs are canceled? Look to stuff like that....
To me if they were smart, they'd offer $9.99 a month OR, $100 for the entire year in a one time payment.
They'll just name Stephanie and Triple H as co-presidents 
Steph with her Communications degree and Triple H with his training from Killer Kowalski will run the day-to-day of a billion dollar company.
Steph with her Communications degree and Triple H with his training from Killer Kowalski will run the day-to-day of a billion dollar company.
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The bolded part is really just technological advances and the way we consume media now. If digital streaming wasn't invented yet, you would most likely still be spending less money by being forced to either buy the PPV or doing what you did in just waiting and getting the plastic.
I will be the third person on this page to champion the Network's back catalog as their best feature. It was so fun to be able to look up any past big fed you could think of, and watch full episodes in great quality. I would even wager that is the biggest draw for most other hardcore fans like us. The thing though, just like with all streaming services, the draw HAS to be the new and Live content. You buy Netflix for example because you wanna check that new Stranger Things season, but you gonna stay subbed for the back catalog (Maybe watch a little Scarface and the Office)
WWE's original programming is lackluster they are reluctant to provide Adult programming (the same Adults with the wallets in their pockets). The E&C show was heavily praised for that exact reason. Their original programming is not churned out with the rate you would expect either. The money they pull in yearly, and it seems they are scared to really put budget into these shows. They seem to have fallen back on relying on the documentary style pieces, which of course cost next to nothing to produce....
Which leaves us with the LIVE programming. Raw, SD, NXT all have TV deals, so the latest episode of each do not drop until the time window of a month passes. So it's basically back catalog material at that point. And this leaves us with the PPVs. Which you explained perfectly as to why no one is gonna be interested in the product they are pushing out. Not to mention wrestling fans are huge pirates. Not to mention AEW existing.
So what good is the Network right now, to a casual, if even us hardcores are admitting it's only good if you wanna blaze and watch back catalog....
Saysumthinfunnymike
VOTE!!!
What is that article getting at about Roman Reigns? His push doesn't live or die by what the stock price is.
Yeah that is lazily worded and confusing. I believe they meant to indicate that Barrios and Wilson leaving will have repercussions that reach even as far as the on air talent (they just named Roman cuz who else do they know?)
-How does the top star feel about these hasty moves, does it affect his confidence in the company, or his performance?
-Is this turmoil currently because the top star isn't producing? Do networks and sponsors apply pressure for different stars to be propped up?
-Do these top stars have other deals outside WWE they are allowed, and will these companies shy on them when they see that star's platform is not doing well?
FunkDoc1112
Heavily Armed
bytch got the same degree I got and I'm a fukking Domino's managerThey'll just name Stephanie and Triple H as co-presidents
Steph with her Communications degree and Triple H with his training from Killer Kowalski will run the day-to-day of a billion dollar company.
(I'm bout to start working at an ad agency, though - if you're not going for a technical/academic career, go to trade school instead of college brehs)
FunkDoc1112
Heavily Armed
So true. I mean, even at the height of the Attitude era WWF had some embarrassing shyt but they had more than enough to counteract it, plus goofy trashy shyt was in anyway. Now, wrestling hardly has any cool factor.
Like you, I also rarely use the Network but keep it for the back catalogue. If I wasn't a nostalgia guy/historian, I'd have no use for it and just stream the PPVs. So for people who aren't like me...what's the intrigue if the product is boring?
LastManStanding
Veteran
WWE isn't leaving any money on the table by abandoning the PPV model and showcasing them on the Network. that's a fan narrative that just isn't true and the numbers prove it. the Network has been the best thing WWE has done in ages and is insanely profitable for them.
the startup cost WWE spent to develop the Network was approximately $5 million and they own it. every dime they make from it goes directly into their pockets. unlike with PPV, where they only received 50-55% of the revenue and the rest went to the PPV/cable/satellite, etc. companies. people often forget that fact. just look at the final year of PPV before the Network began ...
2013 PPV buy rates and total revenue / WWE's share
Royal Rumble - 579,000 buys @ $70 = approximately $40.5M in revenue / approximately $20.3M for WWE
WrestleMania 29 - $1,048,000 buys @ $70 = approximately $73.3M in revenue / approximately $36.7M for WWE
SummerSlam - 298,000 buyys @ $70 = approximately $20.8M in revenue / approximately $10.4M for WWE
Survivor Series - 179,000 buys @$70 = approximately $12.5M in revenue / approximately $6,3M for WWE
so that's roughly a total of $73.7M in revenue for WWE from the big four. now we could break down the other 8 smaller PPV's that were $50, but all of them typically only drew between 100,000-200,000 buys and you get the point. but just for the sake of it, even if the other 8 PPV's averaged 200,000 (which they didn't), at $50 per buy that's another $10M per show for a total of $80M in revenue aka $40M for WWE. so best case scenario for WWE in 2013 under the PPV model, they would have seen somewhere between $110-$120M.
now look at the Network. the latest report has well over 2 million monthly subscribers with approximately 1.8 million of them being paid. so using that 1.8 million number at $9.99 a month is roughly $18M per month and a total of $216M per year. all of it going straight to WWE and not having to share a dime.
the startup cost WWE spent to develop the Network was approximately $5 million and they own it. every dime they make from it goes directly into their pockets. unlike with PPV, where they only received 50-55% of the revenue and the rest went to the PPV/cable/satellite, etc. companies. people often forget that fact. just look at the final year of PPV before the Network began ...
2013 PPV buy rates and total revenue / WWE's share
Royal Rumble - 579,000 buys @ $70 = approximately $40.5M in revenue / approximately $20.3M for WWE
WrestleMania 29 - $1,048,000 buys @ $70 = approximately $73.3M in revenue / approximately $36.7M for WWE
SummerSlam - 298,000 buyys @ $70 = approximately $20.8M in revenue / approximately $10.4M for WWE
Survivor Series - 179,000 buys @$70 = approximately $12.5M in revenue / approximately $6,3M for WWE
so that's roughly a total of $73.7M in revenue for WWE from the big four. now we could break down the other 8 smaller PPV's that were $50, but all of them typically only drew between 100,000-200,000 buys and you get the point. but just for the sake of it, even if the other 8 PPV's averaged 200,000 (which they didn't), at $50 per buy that's another $10M per show for a total of $80M in revenue aka $40M for WWE. so best case scenario for WWE in 2013 under the PPV model, they would have seen somewhere between $110-$120M.
now look at the Network. the latest report has well over 2 million monthly subscribers with approximately 1.8 million of them being paid. so using that 1.8 million number at $9.99 a month is roughly $18M per month and a total of $216M per year. all of it going straight to WWE and not having to share a dime.
Saysumthinfunnymike
VOTE!!!
However, the network subscriber number was down last time and is expected to be down again... that's not the trend they expected, it's supposed to keep growing.
The network subs stayed around 900,000 to a mil for a long tjmr. Like a few yrs.
If it's consistently around 2 mil now thats really good.
I have a stack of Visa gift cards with zero on the balance that I use when I want to watch a WWE PPV.
I have never paid for The Network.