Wednesday 8th January 2014 – the day WWE revolutionised TV and the entertainment industry forever.
WWE officially announced details of it’s WWE Network at the Las Vegas International Consumer Electronics Show on 8th January 2014 and the whole wrestling world stood in awe, including your writer.
The show kicked off with Michael Cole who welcomed everybody and informed the crowd that this would be one of the most important days in the history of WWE. He quickly opens proceedings by introducing WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon, who informed us that not only is he the boss but he’s a fan also.
We are shown a video package showcasing some incredible stats from WWE that show just how much of a global giant it is. McMahon says that today is a great day to be a fan of the WWE because he is proud to announce the official unveiling of the WWE Network.
Michelle Wilson is then introduced to tell us all about the network and what fans can expect when it goes live. She explains that WWE have always been leaders in innovation. They founded Pay-Per-View, changed the way TV shows were syndicated and will now revolutionise the way we watch TV again with the WWE Network. The official tagline for the network is “Way over the top” and Wilson says that they will prove that with what they are about to announce.
The WWE Network is a 24/7 streaming service with regular scheduled programming, exclusive original content and an extensive on-demand library. Their research suggested that WWE fans were passionate and wanted a constant source for content and were willing to pay for it too. Their statistics show that half of homes in the US have at least 1 WWE fan and are highly engaged in online video content such as YouTube/DailyMotion/Hulu by as much as 5 times more than anyone else.
The jackpot was hit when she announced that the WWE Network would show ALL 12 live PPVs INCLUDING WrestleMania. The world of social media exploded at this announcement as it was strongly rumoured that they would only show 8. This is a massive move and all but kills Pay-Per-View as a format. It will also have original programming, a weekly studio show, and at launch will have ALL WWE, WCW and ECW Pay-Per-Views!
She also stated that eventually the Network would have all episodes of RAW and SmackDown and that the process to put that online is already underway. She announced that the WWE Network would launch at a price of $9.99 per month, which is much much lower than the $15 per month previously mentioned by WWE Marketing Director Georgios Barrios.
Beyond the US, WWE Network will be launched in the UK, Canada, Norway and Australia by late 2014.
Stephanie McMahon is then introduced to announce what current content will be on the Network when it launches.
Raw and SmackDown will have pre and post shows on the Network as well as NXT, Legends House and an original series entitled WrestleMania Rewind (consisting of stories from some of the biggest and greatest matches in WrestleMania history)
Triple H and Shawn Michaels are introduced to announce that WWE will also have an original show on the Network entitled WWE Countdown, where the power is put in the viewers hands as they vote via social media on some of the greatest moments and best topics of discussion within WWE. After some comedy antics from DX, a trailer of the show is shown. They also announce what looks to be a documentary or a feature film entitled “Monday Night War” which showed some previously unseen footage of Ted Turner as part of the trailer.
Stone Cold Steve Austin was the next star on the list to make an appearance. He talks about how the Attitude Era broke new ground and pushed the envelope further than WWE had ever pushed it, and he announced that footage from the Attitude Era would be uncut, unedited and uncensored.
Stephanie wraps up her segment with a video package showcasing some details and information on the WWE Network. It’s noted here that the $9.99 price is listed in the video as being “with a 6 month commitment“. If you do the maths however, that’s still cheaper than buying the HD PPV of WrestleMania, and when you consider WrestleMania is INCLUDED with the Network, it’s really a no-brainer!
Perkins Miller, the VP of Digital Media is introduced and he announces that the WWE Network will be exclusive to WWE.COM and says that registration will be a simple case of name, address and credit card details and you will be watching within minutes. He announces the WWE Network will be compatible with Kindle Fire, Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, Roku, Android and iOS systems. By early Summer 2014 it will also be compatible with Xbox One and Smart TVs
All content on the WWE Network will be stream in 720P HD quality. If you happen to miss the start of a scheduled show on the Network, you will be able to watch it from the beginning. A handy reminder button will also inform you via text or email when that show is on in the future.
He also announced a second screen companion for what you’re watching with superstar bios, social media interaction and exclusive interviews. To be honest it just sounds like the current WWE App. He says they have over 300 WWE, WCW and ECW PPVs in the library and the WWE Network will also contain the full archive of ECW TV and the entire WWE Home Video catalogue.
John Cena is the final superstar to be introduced. He has the honour of announcing the launch date, which is 24th February 2014 at 11:05ET which is immediately after RAW that night. The most important thing to take from that, is that the very first “PPV” (If you can call it that now) to air on the WWE Network will be WrestleMania XXX. That is an incredible move by WWE considering they were more or less guaranteed over 1 million buys at $55 each.
The conference is ended when Michael Cole thanks everybody for joining WWE on this historical night.
Historical indeed Michael. The fact that WWE announced all 12 PPVs would be on the Network was a complete shock to us. At a price point of $9.99 a month you’d be absolutely insane not to subscribe to it. When you consider 12 PPVs would cost you well over $500 a year in the PPV era, you get those same 12 PPVs PLUS the entire WWE back catalogue of footage AND original programming for $120 a year is an absolute no brainer.
A lot of people rolled their eyes and made some loud sighs when WWE first mentioned this “Groundbreaking Announcement” but after tonight, one thing is for sure – the announcement was groundbreaking indeed.
– By Dean Puckering