We joined WWE’s Conference Call this afternoon where the company shared their WWE Network subscriber count and answered questions from the media. Here’s a quick recap:
— They opened the call and touted the success of WrestleMania 33 last night.
— Without indicating a specific number, WWE Network has reached “nearly 2 million subscribers.” Total subscribers went up 7% and paid subscribers went up 14% from after last year’s WrestleMania.
— Michelle Wilson took over the call and spoke on “super-serving” their audience – the addition of 205 Live content to the WWE Network, the UK tournament, the Edge & Christian show and WWE Story Time. She also spoke on the upcoming 32-woman international tournament scheduled to air on the WWE Network.
— The average increase subscribers for WWE Network year-over-year for domestic was 12% and international subscribers was 23%.
— They then opened the line for questions.
— One of the questions asked what the exact number of subscribers was and a breakdown. They responded that total subscribers is 1.949 million and total paid is 1.661 million.
— Someone asked for them to give a breakdown on how many subs have the three month promotion and how many have the one month promotion and they declined, saying they will not provide that level of detail.
— Domestically, the breakdown is 1.452 million total subscribers and 1.237 million paid.
— Internationally, it is 497,000 subscribers and 424,000 which are paying.
— Someone asked about if they have gotten any feedback yet on the quality of WrestleMania 33 and how that affects their subscriber retention. They touted the success of WrestleMania again, pointing to 130 million social media views which was double from last year.
— The next caller asked about WrestleMania being availabl in China for the first time. They mentioned that the WWE Network is available in every country except China so they are instead working with a distribution partner and that the Chinese market is difficult to crack, pointing to Netflix’s strategy there of licensing their content.
— The next caller wondered about new plans for content on the network. They once again plugged 205 Live and the women’s tournament, suggesting it will take place in Q2 or Q3.
— Another caller asked about the possibility of using independent wrestling on the network. They sort of side stepped that question and said they are always looking to “super serving” their fans.
— That pretty much wrapped up the call.