WWE acknowledges that "markets for entertainment video are intensely competitive", there is "vast amounts of pirated materials" and "competition with respect to service levels, content offerings, pricing and related features". With the WWE Network, WWE is thrusting itself into direct competition with everything from Cable On-Demand, Netflix, Hulu, Youtube, UFC Fight Pass, illegal content, DVD rentals and Blu-Ray sales. They are worried about seen as a "good value"; otherwise, they know that people will cancel their subscription because of "the need to cut household expenses, unsatisfactory content, competitive entertainment at a lower price and customer service issues". Certainly, we're already seeing that with households that tried WWE Network this past week but were frustrated with lack of support on certain devices (such as XBOX360) or service quality issues (for instance the live streaming problems during the NXT ArRival event). Historically, the conversion from trial to paid subscription is above 90% for services according to companies such as Netflix. WWE also frets about how they will attract these "new subscribers to replace subscribers who cancel"but does not outline a specific plan how to achieve this.
I'm a professional wrestling analyst, an improviser and an avid NES gamer. I live in Saint Paul, Minnesota and I'm working on my first book (#wrestlenomics). You can contact me at chris.harrington@gmail.com or on twitter (@mookieghana)
