The W - Pro Wrestling - WWE Network goes way over the top to 170 countries; new pricing, new delivery methods This thread has 40 referrals leading to it
STAMFORD, Conn. – The U.S. English language version of WWE Network is available starting today, on an over-the-top basis, in more than 170 countries and territories, including Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mexico, Spain, and the Nordics, among others. The network is expected to be live in the U.K. by this October and plans for the network in Italy, UAE, Germany, Japan, India, China, Thailand and Malaysia will be communicated at a later date.
For $9.99 (U.S. dollars) per month with a six month commitment, fans will have access to 24/7 programming, all 12 live WWE pay-per-view events, and the most comprehensive video-on-demand library. In addition, subscribers can now choose a monthly offering at $12.99 (U.S. dollars) with no commitment and the ability to cancel at any time. The $12.99 price point is a change from the previously announced $19.99 monthly plan and allows WWE to offer an option with no commitment that we believe better reflects the variety of economies that exist internationally.
Like other digital subscription services, such as Netflix and Hulu Plus, fans are able to subscribe online by going to WWE.com and clicking on the WWE Network button on the top right corner of the navigation bar. Throughout the day, WWE Network will be made available internationally across all platforms including web, mobile, gaming consoles and connected devices.
Additionally, WWE today announced that WWE Network will be available by tomorrow on Sony internet connected TVs, Blu-ray Disc players and Blu-ray Home Theater systems. By this Friday, WWE Network will be available on Samsung Smart TV devices, Blu-ray Players and Home Theater systems.
For a complete listing of WWE Network availability by country and device, please click here.
FINALLY I can hook my Samsung Blu-ray player into this thing! Hello WWE Network in bed! (Goodbye wife in bed!)
The lower price point for the month-to-month subscription is intriguing. I hope it signals that building PPV cards will stay important as it's the only hook to try to get those "impulse" purchases they must feel are there to pick.
I'm still aggravated enough with their recent action to let my subscription lapse, but we'll see how I feel when we get closer to Night of The Champions.
Any more thoughts from The W Universe? For our folks in Australia and elsewhere, are you on board now with this news, or are you going to wait?
Apparently they figured that the six-month commitment was keeping a lot of fence sitters where they were. The $12.99 version sounds like it'll be both good and bad for their subscription rate. They'll have to work harder to sell the big PPVs (since customers won't be locked in), so we have fewer horrific pre-PPV RAWs like we had the last couple weeks. The subscriptions will probably still spike around Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania, with subs falling quite a bit during the middle of the year.
On the other hand, we might be hearing twice the shilling ... since now we have 9.99 and 12.99.
I've been waiting for that Sony Blu-ray Player announcement. My wife bought a Chromecast for us recently, which got me to sign up for the Network, but this will be a little more convenient with our setup. Will try it out for SummerSlam this weekend and see how it works!
Originally posted by CRZVia their press release (wwe.com):
STAMFORD, Conn. – The network is expected to be live in the U.K. by this October and plans for the network in Italy, UAE, Germany, Japan, India, China, Thailand and Malaysia will be communicated at a later date.
Any more thoughts from The W Universe? For our folks in Australia and elsewhere, are you on board now with this news, or are you going to wait?
The 170 number seems overblown when you consider the countries not included (including where I live) are either fairly large markets and/or countries the wwe visits regularly.
wonder if now they are looking at the rogers/canada deal as a global model? otherwise, what would be stopping them from just opening up the us version now and then (perhaps) a localized over the top version later?
wonder if now they are looking at the rogers/canada deal as a global model? otherwise, what would be stopping them from just opening up the us version now and then (perhaps) a localized over the top version later?
It sounded like the Rogers deal can about because Rogers is a media octopus: they own TV stations, they're happy to pay to air WWE shows, and they also own cable systems which can easily add the WWE channel. All those capabilities had to be there and it worked out that they were already talking about extending their deal. There may not be perfect replicas elsewhere. The US seems like it had the same situation - NBC Universal airs the shows, Comcast could easily add the channel - but there apparently wasn't enough interest to do it or we'd have it that way too. Maybe it's something the could come up next time WWE makes a TV deal, but that's now a long time away.
Originally posted by CRZVia their press release (wwe.com):
STAMFORD, Conn. – The network is expected to be live in the U.K. by this October and plans for the network in Italy, UAE, Germany, Japan, India, China, Thailand and Malaysia will be communicated at a later date.
Any more thoughts from The W Universe? For our folks in Australia and elsewhere, are you on board now with this news, or are you going to wait?
The 170 number seems overblown when you consider the countries not included (including where I live) are either fairly large markets and/or countries the wwe visits regularly.
wonder if now they are looking at the rogers/canada deal as a global model? otherwise, what would be stopping them from just opening up the us version now and then (perhaps) a localized over the top version later?
Yeah. That "over a hundred countries" thing almost always involves small countries that probably rely on other, bigger countries for the majority of their media. Japan only just got live, usubbed Raw/Smackdown (subbed is delayed by two days, I think). Of course since PPVs and Raw live means 9:00 in the morning in Japan I highly doubt many people are watching at that time. Oh, and I don't have anywhere else to put this but with UStream ending iPPVs what is that going to do to the market?
Originally posted by Spiraling_ShapeI've been waiting for that Sony Blu-ray Player announcement. My wife bought a Chromecast for us recently, which got me to sign up for the Network, but this will be a little more convenient with our setup. Will try it out for SummerSlam this weekend and see how it works!
Turns out the Sony Entertainment Network only added the WWE Network for Sony Blu-Ray players from 2013 and 2014...and I got mine at the end of 2012. :-/
Thread ahead: On This (Yester)Day: WCW Worldwide - August 11, 1996 Next thread: Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Paul Heyman Previous thread: WWE Network Comes to Canada via Agreement with Rogers
This actually does worry me a bit, though; what do they do with the U.S. Title when(if) Cena wins at Wrestlemania? Best case scenario, he just drops the title and they have a tournament on Smackdown!.
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