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.
Not only are consumers saying video aggregators are simple to navigate across, but they also value having a single bill for all their apps. OTT bundling is a key source of revenue for pay TV and other...
The evolution of content distribution and the consistent growth of over-the-top (OTT) streaming generates industry predictions of the inevitable decline and fall of pay TV. As video ecosystems collide...
Like all streaming services, Disney+ saw strong growth during the pandemic but competitor Netflix reported losing subscribers last quarter. But Disney+ is cheaper than Netflix – an increasingly import...
According to analysis by research firm Parks Associates, password piracy and sharing cost streaming providers like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney Plus $9.1 billion in 2019 alone. Why aren’t these companies...
