World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. and YouTube announced today a multi-year partnership that will make full episodes of WWE “Friday Night SmackDown®,” “WWE NXT™,” “WWE Superstars” and “ECW®,” available at WWE’s official YouTube™ channel ( www.YouTube.com/WWE : ). This marks one of the first times that YouTube will feature complete episodes of primetime television programs on their site.
The multi-year deal greatly expands WWE’s YouTube channel offerings, which already has 90,000 subscribers who have viewed more than 100 million WWE videos to date. WWE will also augment the channel by increasing content clips of WWE’s flagship program “Monday Night Raw®,” as well as “WWE Classics” and short videos.
“WWE has established itself as one of the top global entertainment brands in the world,” said Chris Maxcy, strategic partner director at YouTube. “WWE’s content is hugely popular on YouTube. Bringing in full-length, primetime television programs to the site is a huge win for our community and fans of the WWE.”
“As part of our ever evolving digital media strategy, WWE is one of the first global entertainment companies to offer audiences access to complete primetime shows on YouTube,” said Brian Kalinowski, WWE’s Executive Vice President, WWE Interactive. “This partnership also enables WWE to increase its official PG-content offerings online for our fans, generate revenue, protect our content and broaden our brand exposure on the world’s largest online video site.”
-edit- My apologies to the multiple posts, but I only hit submit once, and it took like FOREVER to post. Again, my apologies!!!!!
Originally posted by odessasteps why exactly is it only clips of raw?
presumably, nbc/u contract, but you'd think they would say that in the presser.
Probably because it's their cash cow and it still probably commands a lot in advertising revenue. I'd imagine they'd take a hit if everyone is watching it on Hulu with fewer commercials (one 30 second spot compared to two minutes of ad time).
Originally posted by StaggerLeeIf this means OLD SCHOOL ECW shows will be available, it will be the greatest thing on the internet!
“This partnership also enables WWE to increase its official PG-content offerings online for our fans, generate revenue, protect our content and broaden our brand exposure on the world’s largest online video site.”
I doubt you'll be seeing any of the older stuff on Youtube (especially since they're pushing the WWE Classics On-Demand and WWE.com 24/7 [which I would subscribe to if they would just start supporting Macs ><]).
Originally posted by odessasteps why exactly is it only clips of raw?
presumably, nbc/u contract, but you'd think they would say that in the presser.
Probably because it's their cash cow and it still probably commands a lot in advertising revenue.
WWE doesn't get a dime of advertising $ from Raw. And it's never been a cash cow for advertising, it's more along the lines of "cheap programming that looks good in the weekly averages".
It is the policy of the documentary crew to remain true observers and not interfere with its subjects. "Well. Shit." -hansen9j
Originally posted by odessasteps why exactly is it only clips of raw?
presumably, nbc/u contract, but you'd think they would say that in the presser.
Probably because it's their cash cow and it still probably commands a lot in advertising revenue.
WWE doesn't get a dime of advertising $ from Raw. And it's never been a cash cow for advertising, it's more along the lines of "cheap programming that looks good in the weekly averages".
Ooh, that's why I never went to advertising classes!
I stand corrected! That makes a lot more sense too, though.
One question before we begin: can someone explain why WWE won't let Canadians see their programming online, but TNA will?
Originally posted by Big G
Originally posted by JSTMuch like Hulu, us Canadians get the shaft. None of the videos work for me.
Me neither. It's racist.
And pathetic. I'm sure there are ways around it, but that's just sad.
Originally posted by StaggerLeeAt least you have better quality beer up there, so at least you have that going for you.
I'm not a beer drinker, but meh.
My stance is that we here in Canada get multiple viewings of RAW over the week; two if memory serves me correct. Maybe the logic is, why should we be given the ability to watch RAW online when we can see it on THE SCORE twice on Monday night, and once on Tuesday.
(edited by Oliver on 23.6.10 1109)
(edited by Oliver on 24.6.10 1456) 2009-2010 WHL Fantasy League Champion!!!
Originally posted by OliverMy stance is that we here in Canada get multiple viewings of RAW over the week; two if memory serves me correct. Maybe the logic is, why should we be given the ability to watch RAW online when we can see it on THE SCORE twice on Monday night, and once on Tuesday.
I'll explain what I believe to be true, and someone can correct me if needed.
WWE has sold the rights to air their product in Canada to The Score. If they allow Canadian viewers to instead watch the video on youtube, they are lowering the value of these rights. In other words, The Score isn't going to be willing to pay as much for the rights if they know that Canadians can just bypass them and get the clips directly from youtube instead. Furthermore, blocking Canadians from accessing WWE footage might very well be written right into the terms of the agreement.
Now you might ask, what's the difference between The Score airing stuff in Canada and USA Network, Syfy, and Universal HD airing stuff in the US? That's a good question, and I don't really have an answer for that. I would guess that WWE retains the right to air clips of their programming on the internet to US consumers, but perhaps they don't see the value in keeping that option open in other countries.
So therefore, you've asked why you can watch TNA stuff, but you can't watch WWE stuff. Researching the matter, my understanding is that you cannot get "TNA Impact" via television in Canada. Rather, you get "TNA Xplosion" on The Fight Network. So I am guessing you can see TNA Impact clips because they have not sold the Canadian rights to anyone.
The same thing works for other shows on other networks: you can't see clips of "The Office" on NBC.com or on hulu because the Canadian rights belong to Global. You can't see Law & Order on nbc.com because it belongs to CTV. I can't watch "Degrassi: The Next Generation" on the CTV site because the US rights belong to TeenNick. I can't watch "The Graham Norton Show" on bbc.co.uk because the US rights belong to BBC America, which is an entirely different channel on an entirely different website.
In short, it's an unfortunate byproduct of the way international television rights are sold. In a perfect world, The Score would make all the videos available to you on their website, but of course that's not the case.
In the interest of full disclosure, I understand and pretty much accept that there are very valid reasons upon why only particular countries can view licenced material free online.
But as I'm on the losing end of this particular arrangement, I'm simply invoking my God given right to whinge about it.