Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

WWE Is Laying the Smackdown on the World

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.

Previously In The News

SXSW: Live Streaming Is Fully 'A Thing,' HD Audio Isn't

The same can’t be said of high-definition audio -- it isn’t yet "a thing." But can it become a thing? Two years after Neil Young unveiled his hi-def iPod, the Pono, on the keynote stage of Austin's Co...

68% Of Smartphone Users Stream Music Daily

According to a new Parks Associates study, digital media usage varies based on OS brand and carrier. iPhone users consume more media than Android and other operating systems. T-Mobile and Sprint custo...

New Leaked iPhone 7 Photos: Dual Cameras, Smart Connector, No Home Button

According to research firm Parks Associates, one-third of Apple iPhone owners still have a model that is more than two years old, compared to 30% of Samsung phone owners. The arrival of a new Apple...

33% Of US Net Households Pay To Stream Music: Amazon Prime Music Surges 50% To #1, Spotify #2

28% of broadband households indicated that they subscribe to Amazon Prime Video, so the number of streaming music subscribers likely reflects actual usage of the streaming music portion of Amazon's se...