The market’s enthusiasm for WWE stems largely from its lucrative TV contracts, combined with its early success in direct-to-consumer streaming TV apps. In 2014 the company made a risky move, deciding essentially to cannibalize its traditional pay-per-view business. Instead of paying their cable companies one-time fees to see WWE’s marquee events—say, $44.99 for the Royal Rumble—fans would be encouraged to subscribe to a streaming video service, the WWE Network, and pay a monthly fee. After some early turbulence, the move is paying off. Roughly 1.5 million people now hand over $9.99 a month for the WWE Network, making it the 11th-most-popular streaming video service in the U.S., according to Parks Associates, and the second-most-popular, after Major League Baseball’s, in the “sports-related” category.
From the article "WWE Is Laying the Smackdown on the World" by Felix Gillette and Kim Bhasin.
Getting people to know about virtual reality is a critical step for the mainstream adoption. A similar survey by Parks Associates reveals virtual reality demonstrations play a key role to convince...
“Currently, more than 60% of U.S. broadband households claim to know little or nothing about virtual reality,” said Parks Associates, in a statement. According to the report, virtual and augmented...
Despite Netflix’s subscriber base trumping or rivaling (HBO) most pay-TV services, broadcast TV still generates the majority of home entertainment consumption — among broadband households, according t...
The smart home devices sold by Google's home automation subsidiary, Nest, represent just a small fraction of the burgeoning Internet of Things (IoT) market. However, Nest has become one of the most re...
