Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2014 11:28:00 GMT -5
Interesting question because there's a number of things to think about:
- WWNLive/RFVideoNow stream shows live and on WWNLive you can get the live showing for $9.99, the same price as the WWE Network.
- ROH doesn't do live iPPV anymore, you have to wait a day to get the shows.
- New Japan's iPPVs are $25 and while they're fat better shows, it's hard to compete with WWE's $10/month price tag for the first six months.
- WWE is offering all 12 PPVs for the next year live on the Network with half of them costing as little as $9.99/month if you sign up for six months.
- The WWE Network largely doesn't target the audience that the indie iPPVs do.
That said, I don't think this really harms anyone in the long run except ROH because they're not live. You HAVE to watch them on VOD and when it comes down to it, do you really want to pay $15 for something you can't watch live when you can get WrestleMania and SummerSlam for cheaper than that? Compare that to WWNLive and RF who do their shows now. At least you're paying for a live event experience, not having to stay away from spoilers for two days to see a show that costs you just as much as a live iPPV from the other two major websites would.
The indie fans I could see jumping off are the ones who hate the current WWE PPV price who have always said they'd watch the PPVs if they were cheaper. Now they are and I can see some of them migrating to the WWE Network for that.
That said, if you have a product worth paying for, you're going to make money. The burden for the indie promotions is making sure that $15 you're charging for iPPV or VOD gives the fans their money's worth more than the $10 they'll pay at the start of the WWE Network. In the minds of wrestling fans, quantity of content matters but to a lot of them so does the quality of the content. Deliver a better product and your business will be fine.
I think a bigger question is how many fans will forgo the network to keep accessing illegal streams? The shows are incredibly affordable now and I see a lot of talk about "I'll just wait until they hit torrent sites and the tape trading forums". Is $10 really that hard to fit in a budget, especially compared to $55 for the shows in HD?
Gabe said something in that news bulletin I find pretty fascinating when he said WWE are sacrificing DVD and PPV sales for TV rights. He's right on the money about the Network but here's the thing - they're going to make far more money off of those TV rights than they would PPV given how the numbers trended last year. The Network will bring them more money in the long run because they're offering a super affordable alternative to the current business model that WWE themselves have admitted was overpriced.
Now that I look at it, this is a big rambly rant type thing but I think there's at least a sliver of sense in it. Might be the no sleep. Not sure.
- WWNLive/RFVideoNow stream shows live and on WWNLive you can get the live showing for $9.99, the same price as the WWE Network.
- ROH doesn't do live iPPV anymore, you have to wait a day to get the shows.
- New Japan's iPPVs are $25 and while they're fat better shows, it's hard to compete with WWE's $10/month price tag for the first six months.
- WWE is offering all 12 PPVs for the next year live on the Network with half of them costing as little as $9.99/month if you sign up for six months.
- The WWE Network largely doesn't target the audience that the indie iPPVs do.
That said, I don't think this really harms anyone in the long run except ROH because they're not live. You HAVE to watch them on VOD and when it comes down to it, do you really want to pay $15 for something you can't watch live when you can get WrestleMania and SummerSlam for cheaper than that? Compare that to WWNLive and RF who do their shows now. At least you're paying for a live event experience, not having to stay away from spoilers for two days to see a show that costs you just as much as a live iPPV from the other two major websites would.
The indie fans I could see jumping off are the ones who hate the current WWE PPV price who have always said they'd watch the PPVs if they were cheaper. Now they are and I can see some of them migrating to the WWE Network for that.
That said, if you have a product worth paying for, you're going to make money. The burden for the indie promotions is making sure that $15 you're charging for iPPV or VOD gives the fans their money's worth more than the $10 they'll pay at the start of the WWE Network. In the minds of wrestling fans, quantity of content matters but to a lot of them so does the quality of the content. Deliver a better product and your business will be fine.
I think a bigger question is how many fans will forgo the network to keep accessing illegal streams? The shows are incredibly affordable now and I see a lot of talk about "I'll just wait until they hit torrent sites and the tape trading forums". Is $10 really that hard to fit in a budget, especially compared to $55 for the shows in HD?
Gabe said something in that news bulletin I find pretty fascinating when he said WWE are sacrificing DVD and PPV sales for TV rights. He's right on the money about the Network but here's the thing - they're going to make far more money off of those TV rights than they would PPV given how the numbers trended last year. The Network will bring them more money in the long run because they're offering a super affordable alternative to the current business model that WWE themselves have admitted was overpriced.
Now that I look at it, this is a big rambly rant type thing but I think there's at least a sliver of sense in it. Might be the no sleep. Not sure.