World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Stock Jumps Today After Announcing Network Subscriber Milestone

[big dog cowboy]

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Stock Jumps Today After Announcing Network Subscriber Milestone
BYShawn Ingram

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE - Get Report) were gaining 13.1% to $11.586 on Tuesday after the company announced that it reached 1 million WWE Network subscribers.

The sports entertainment company reached the 1 million subscriber milestone 11 months after its launch, making the WWE Network the "fastest-growing digital subscription service," according to the company. WWE attributed the recent increase of subscribers to its successful free November promotion, the launch of the service in the U.K., and "significant additions" for its Royal Rumble pay-per-view event.

The company said that 90% of subscribers access the WWE Network at least once a week, and 99% access it at least once a month.

"We're thrilled that we've surpassed the 1 million subscriber milestone less than a year after launching WWE Network and in advance of WrestleMania, our biggest event of the year on March 29," WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon said. "We remain focused on delivering an outstanding value proposition for ours fans by adding new content and new features in the coming year."

TheStreet Ratings team rates WORLD WRESTLING ENTMT INC as a Hold with a ratings score of C-. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate WORLD WRESTLING ENTMT INC (WWE) a HOLD. The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed -- some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and expanding profit margins. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including feeble growth in the company's earnings per share, deteriorating net income and disappointing return on equity."

Read more: http://www.thestreet.com/story/1302...scriber-milestone.html?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO
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I'm surprised to read this news today. What really made me laugh is Vince saying "We're thrilled that we've surpassed the 1 million subscriber milestone less than a year after launching WWE Network" when that was the goal 7 months (or longer) ago. The last subscription number I remember reading was 750K give or take and that was a couple of months ago. So I am skeptical of todays announcement especially given the current chaotic environment withi the company. Perhaps I just don't trust Vince.

 

[BoysFan4ever]

I thought after that PPV fans were canceling their subscriptions?

This comes out of left field.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

No matter what else has happened you have to credit Vince and the rest of the crew at the WWE for reaching this milestone.

Congrats to them!

 

[BoysFan4ever]

No matter what else has happened you have to credit Vince and the rest of the crew at the WWE for reaching this milestone.

Congrats to them!

I suppose but the whole network thing seems to have been a problem for them more than anything. They definitely overestimated the success of it. But a million is a million as you said.

 

[DanteEXT]

I thought after that PPV fans were canceling their subscriptions?

This comes out of left field.

I am assuming the figures come from before the PPV. Even if it was the day after they'd still be "subscribers" until that month of service was over.

 

[BoysFan4ever]

I am assuming the figures come from before the PPV. Even if it was the day after they'd still be "subscribers" until that month of service was over.

I had read (thanks to some articles sent to me) that the company was bleeding money & the main blame went to the network & lack of subscriptions.

It is unfortunate they could not do a show Monday in front of fans. I would have watched just to see how the fans reacted to Roman winning.

 

[NickZepp]

The subscriptions are up because they've added UK subscriptions recently. These new numbers don't really matter and probably aren't an indication of the numbers after the Royal Rumble.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

I actually enjoy having the network. Getting to watch the PPV's, if I so choose, for 10 a month is nice. If I don't watch them then I don't really lose anything either. It works for me.

The Royal Rumble was actually a good PPV that they screwed up with the way they chose to go about the Rumble. Not with who won but just how they did the eliminations and such.

 

[NickZepp]

The product has been unwatchable for years because of how badly it's booked. Every since they force fed Cena like they did in the early to mid 2000s with his horrible promos, I haven't been a big fan of it and haven't really watched it that much. I watch a bit on youtube read about it most of the time. See who is the best around today. But nothing has changed with the booking or how the matches are written for a long time and it'll continue to be a product I can't watch or support.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I'll believe the subscribers amount when I actually see it. To me, this smells like a stock scam using fuzzy math to get the stock to go up which I wouldn't put past Vince to do.

I actually enjoyed this past Raw. It got wrestlers doing things more in line with what they are good at (actual promos/interviews) instead of vignettes. The show revolved around the main players (Rollins, Lesnar, Cena and Reigns with an appearance from Rusev) and it didn't get bogged down with diva matches and vignettes along with goofy matches and vignettes from wrestlers we don't care about (Miz, Adam Rose, etc).

I thought the confrontations brought great tension that was palpable.

This era reminds me a lot of the 1991-1994 times when Vince clearly lost touch and his booking and mindset was getting in the way. He then had to allow the wrestlers to kind of do their own thing and that spawned the Attitude Era. From there he started to learn how to write for the Attitude Era and they had amazing success.

Now he needs to find that other era and I don't think he quite understands it. The Attitude Era was more adult oriented and Vince had seen that before in the 70's in the WWWF and in the early 80's before he turned it into more of a family friendly promotion. The Attitude Era was more 'vulgar' than the 70's and 80's WWF, but the idea of appealing to the 18-34 year old male demographic had been done before so once Vince started to understand what the 18-34 year old males wanted back at that time, it was like riding a bike again.

I don't think he understands what the Millenials want. I'm not exactly sure what they want either. But it does appear that they are more interested in athletic in-ring performers that can get feuds and storylines over and they more or less do not care about how big a wrestler is or if they have a bodybuilder physique. And they really like MMA and all of that is completely foreign to Vince.





YR

 

[BoysFan4ever]

As a new fan my major complaint is the time they waste on their programming.

It sometime feels as if they talk more than actually wrestle.

The RAW show is too long at 3 hours.

 

[NickZepp]

RAW needs to be 2 hours max with maybe pre PPV specials being an additional hour or something like that. I haven't watched RAW in years but last time I watched it years ago I couldn't even sit through an hour of it.

 

[BoysFan4ever]

RAW needs to be 2 hours max with maybe pre PPV specials being an additional hour or something like that. I haven't watched RAW in years but last time I watched it years ago I couldn't even sit through an hour of it.

FF button works for me but the guys that post on here about WWE are really hardcore fans & I'm sure they like the 3 hour program. But for me it's just a bit too much.

My major complaint is having guys on there like that Kane (my favorite example!) in big main event type matches. He is obviously well past his prime & the audience doesn't even respond to him. I sit there thinking can't the PTB see that?

I guess not. He was one of the last guys in that Rumble show. Certainly they have more worthy/credible guys.

 

[big dog cowboy]

I am assuming the figures come from before the PPV.

If I'm not mistaken the number of subscribers being reported is a 4th quarter total. I'd be interested to know what the current number is.

It is unfortunate they could not do a show Monday in front of fans. I would have watched just to see how the fans reacted to Roman winning.

You will get your chance Tomorrow night as Smackdown will be live not taped. Unless Vince manipulates the crowd volumn we'll get to hear exactly what they think. We may have seen a preview at the PPV when The Rock was in the ring with Reigns and you could clearly hear the boos and see the surprised reaction on The Rock's face.

Also I noticed the decline of the $9.99 promos recently and learned today that the WWE charges less in England and other countries. The last time I remember hearing someone mention that was Kevin Nash at the Raw reunion show.

Oh, and Raw should definately return to 2 hours.

 

[BoysFan4ever]

If I'm not mistaken the number of subscribers being reported is a 4th quarter total. I'd be interested to know what the current number is.


You will get your chance Tomorrow night as Smackdown will be live not taped. Unless Vince manipulates the crowd volumn we'll get to hear exactly what they think. We may have seen a preview at the PPV when The Rock was in the ring with Reigns and you could clearly hear the boos and see the surprised reaction on The Rock's face.

Also I noticed the decline of the $9.99 promos recently and learned today that the WWE charges less in England and other countries. The last time I remember hearing someone mention that was Kevin Nash at the Raw reunion show.

Oh, and Raw should definately return to 2 hours.

I thought SMACKDOWN was live! Haha. DUH.

I like Roman fine but I still think they should have had Ambrose win. Fans love that guy!

They made it sound like Rock was going to be wrestling again. That Paul guy kept going on & on about he never wanted to fight Brock. Maybe he'll come back!

 

[Manwiththeplan]

I thought SMACKDOWN was live! Haha. DUH.

I like Roman fine but I still think they should have had Ambrose win. Fans love that guy!

They made it sound like Rock was going to be wrestling again. That Paul guy kept going on & on about he never wanted to fight Brock. Maybe he'll come back!

Although it would get huge PPV numbers, the Rock vs Lesnar would draw the ire of the internet wrestling community, which rarely is the voice of most wrestling fans, but certainly the loudest. A safer bet would be a future match between the two when Brock is not the champion.

 

[big dog cowboy]

I thought SMACKDOWN was live! Haha. DUH.

I like Roman fine but I still think they should have had Ambrose win. Fans love that guy!

They made it sound like Rock was going to be wrestling again. That Paul guy kept going on & on about he never wanted to fight Brock. Maybe he'll come back!

Smackdown is a recorded house show on Tuesday. If you pay attention to the applause it's easy to see when the WWE adds it, especially at wrestler intros. The Rock is retired and would only come back for a WM match.

 

[BoysFan4ever]

Smackdown is a recorded house show on Tuesday. If you pay attention to the applause it's easy to see when the WWE adds it, especially at wrestler intros. The Rock is retired and would only come back for a WM match.

I will record it this week.

I imagine Dwayne Johnson the actor makes a lot more money than Rock the wrestler. I guess he gets really big bucks just to be on there. And can he still wrestle?

 

[big dog cowboy]

I imagine Dwayne Johnson the actor makes a lot more money than Rock the wrestler. I guess he gets really big bucks just to be on there. And can he still wrestle?

If I'm not mistaken The Rock is the top grossing actor the last 2 years (maybe longer) and gets something like $20M per movie now. Just guessing here but Vince paid him around $2M per year when he was full time. Yes he can still wrestle but like most he is starting to show his age. At 42 he can still move well but not like he used to. His biggest in ring asset is his mouth.

 

[BoysFan4ever]

If I'm not mistaken The Rock is the top grossing actor the last 2 years (maybe longer) and gets something like $20M per movie now. Just guessing here but Vince paid him around $2M per year when he was full time. Yes he can still wrestle but like most he is starting to show his age. At 42 he can still move well but not like he used to. His biggest in ring asset is his mouth.

I think there was some reason in that interview on RAW that that Paul guy brought up that Rock wanted no part of Brock.

I thought at the time well he will be back for that.