This past week the WWE issued a press release touting a new slate of original programming scheduled to begin airing on the Network as early as this month. WWE's over-the-top service has been the source of much discussion since its launch just over a year ago, and while most subscribers call themselves at least somewhat satisfied, the numbers are nowhere near the level the company needs them to be. The most recent figures released have the Network at 1.3 million paid subscribers, with an average of 918,000 in the first quarter of 2015. They have plans to roll out the service in other markets such as India, Germany, Japan and Italy but it's doubtful that will boost numbers all that significantly. Out of the 201,000 subscribers that came on board for the free trial in February, 154,000 of them stuck around, which can be seen as a success. However, due to rising costs the goal posts continue to be moved in relation to how many subscribers are needed to reach the break-even point. The latest projection has seen that number move from 500,000 to the 1.5 - 1.7 million range. That's a gigantic increase that's going to be difficult to maintain, and Wall Street reacted to the news by causing a $3.00 drop in the stock price. So how can WWE continue to grow the service? There's a hotly contested debate over whether the answer is increased archival footage (they're adding an additional 1,000 hours), strengthening the current product or bringing a more non-wrestling entertainment aspect to the Network. Likely the truth lies with all three equally, but WWE seems to have somewhat of a vision in mind according to the new original content about to hit their streaming service. But will any of it be worth watching? And can these shows entice new customers to subscribe? Let's take a look.
Brad Hamilton is a writer, musician and marketer/social media manager from Atlanta, Georgia. He's an undefeated freestyle rap battle champion, spends too little time being productive and defines himself as the literary version of Brock Lesnar.
