The WWE has issued a press release touting the success of the WWE Network with 667,287 subscribers just 42 days after launching the digital platform. They claim to be on course for achieving their target of a million subscribers by the end of 2014. The actual success is open to debate. Launching around WrestleMania 30, WWE were initially always going to get off to a good start. Whether 667k is good enough is arguable. WWE now need to add over 250k more subscribers to get near their million target, which could be tricky, they no longer have the lure of WrestleMania, and some subscribers will inevitably cancel in September. The number announced today is at the low end of expectations, hardly a disaster but not something to be overly optimistic about either. The Wrestling Observer had last week said that anything below 750k subscribers for the Network could see WrestleMania 31 return to a sole PPV format in order to make up the shortfall. At the end of the day, if WWE aren't at a million subscribers by the end of the year, they have failed with the Network. It's a business and they have to make money on it. The challenge for WWE to now add hundreds of thousands more subscribers they need will hopefully benefit us the fans. They're going to have to really match their product to consumer desires over the next six months. We should be the winners in all of that. We will have far more analysis on this story and the implications with pro-wrestling business expert Chris Harrington later today, so please check back for the latest and most insightful verdict later.