Hail Posted April 9, 2017 Share Posted April 9, 2017 Was reading an old PW Torch newsletter from 2002 and they were reporting on the creation of NWA TNA. At the time the big thing was how revolutionary the concept was of by-passing TV altogether and going exclusively to Pay-Per View on a weekly basis. Got me thinking, do you think if a new national promotion was starting today - with TV still hard to come by and Pay Per View business pretty much dead for everything not UFC or Wrestlemania - could a national promotion launch and survive with their own streaming app similar to WWE Network? So you pay a few quid, say £2.50 or £5 and you get a 1hour pre-taped tv show and a monthly Pay-Per View. Or is it just a case no-one would be willing to pay for anything that isn't WWE and would simply pirate/steam it illegally? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyattSheepMask Posted April 9, 2017 Share Posted April 9, 2017 (edited) There's plenty that don't even want to pay for WWE, nevermind anyone else. If there was a way to get it for free, then fans will do so. Then they'll complain about it, all the while overlooking their own sense of entitlement. Streaming will become the main medium for how television will be consumed eventually, and you can see how that medium has grown in the last three years since the launch of WWE Network, it's never been easier to have access to so much content. Yet there are still so many fans who are too fucking tight to pay for things, so much do that they go to the length of cancelling the network and setting up again under a fresh email address every month. On top of that, you've still got to depend on people to attend the shows in order to put them on in the first place. How do you get people to buy tickets to come to a show if the streaming app is only £2.50-£5 a month (I know you only meant that as an example), and that's if you get people willing to pay for it in the first place. It's those startup costs that are stopping a promotion from going national in any sort of meaningful way Edited April 9, 2017 by WyattSheepMask Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porkchopcash Posted April 9, 2017 Share Posted April 9, 2017 (edited) CM Punk is the next nostalgia return for WM isnt he? Watching some of his old stuff and although he isnt liked on here, he was really good. And deserves respect for standing up for himself. A bit misrable but all the top men have their negative points. Edited April 9, 2017 by Porkchopcash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyattSheepMask Posted April 9, 2017 Share Posted April 9, 2017 (edited) I don't think it's a case that he wasn't liked on here, I was a big fan and so were a lot of others, and we all know that UK Kat Von D has a poster of Punk over his bed. And yes he was really good, but he thought that he was much more important than he was. He appealed to a section of the audience, there's no doubt about that, but he's dreaming of he thinks he should have been making the same payday as Rock & Cena and Undertaker at those respective Wrestlemania. As for that podcast, that's his side of the story. Unfortunately, I doubt that we'll ever get Vince & HHH's take on that meeting, so all we got to go on is Punk's word. That's not me questioning him or his convictions, but just because he said that on a podcast doesn't make it truth. The only people who truely know what happened that day are Punk, Vince and HHH. And until the other tell their side, it's one man's word. Edited April 9, 2017 by WyattSheepMask Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat crater Posted April 9, 2017 Share Posted April 9, 2017 Punk has to be one of the most overrated superstars of the last 20 years. I never got the appeal. Was hilarious when Kevin Nash destroyed him on the mic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members unfitfinlay Posted April 9, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted April 9, 2017 2 hours ago, Hail said: Was reading an old PW Torch newsletter from 2002 and they were reporting on the creation of NWA TNA. At the time the big thing was how revolutionary the concept was of by-passing TV altogether and going exclusively to Pay-Per View on a weekly basis. Got me thinking, do you think if a new national promotion was starting today - with TV still hard to come by and Pay Per View business pretty much dead for everything not UFC or Wrestlemania - could a national promotion launch and survive with their own streaming app similar to WWE Network? So you pay a few quid, say £2.50 or £5 and you get a 1hour pre-taped tv show and a monthly Pay-Per View. Or is it just a case no-one would be willing to pay for anything that isn't WWE and would simply pirate/steam it illegally? As a national promotion? Nope. Aside from things that WyattSheepMask covered, there simply isn't the talent available for a second national promotion. TNA started at a time when there was a ton of ex-WCW and ECW stars available and in reasonably good shape and hardly any place to work. Who would you build around nowadays? There's barely any legitimate stars in WWE, nevermind the Independent scene, and the people that are in demand, like the Young Bucks work all over the place. How do you convince people to pay you to see them instead of any of the other companies? You'd pretty much have to pay for exclusivity and you're not covering the cost of that for £5 a month. It might be a decent revenue stream for a smaller company, or one with a unique style and an established fanbase, like ICW, but trying to build a brand new company around it would be a total disaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Au Posted April 10, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted April 10, 2017 Just for shits and giggles, let's assume this is PWG deciding that their "only live in person or wait for the DVD" model isn't working for them and they want to start up a paid online subscription service. I reckon the audience and the workers are there for it. It's ridiculous to say there aren't enough indie workers around to build a company with. All the big names are getting pulled back into WWE but I reckon it's doable. Look at all the shows over Mania weekend. Also, isn't this pretty much how Evolve operate already, only through WWNLive? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Briefcase Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 (edited) Does anyone think the WWE would be better or worse off had they not gone down the Network route the last few years? I know its a tough one to measure but with TV ratings falling you would have thought events purchased on PPV would also fall but then PPV was at a higher charge to the customer so over the year would bring in maybe a higher revenue and I am guessing less costly to do against running the WWE Network. In Hindsight did they do the right thing? Edited April 10, 2017 by Briefcase Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 For long term sustainability, they did the right thing. But without the network, they'd have been far better off financially for the last five or six years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Sergio Mendacious Posted April 10, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted April 10, 2017 Does anyone have the app Pluto.TV? Got it a month ago to see what weird channels were on there, and then never looked at it again till today. There's some sort of pro wrestling channel, seems heavy on old TNA, but there's some juggalo stuff on there, and documentaries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Tommy! Posted April 10, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted April 10, 2017 50 minutes ago, King Pitcos said: For long term sustainability, they did the right thing. But without the network, they'd have been far better off financially for the last five or six years. Wwe were ahead of the curve with the network, same with Twitter from what I recall. It seems so wrong to say that though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted April 10, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted April 10, 2017 9 minutes ago, Tommy! said: Wwe were ahead of the curve with the network, same with Twitter from what I recall. It seems so wrong to say that though. Both right, IMO. I think they've done the right thing and done it at the right time while they've still got "some" PPV revenue to offset costs. The monthly PPV model for pro-wrestling is dead and has been for a while. There just aren't the stars to support it alongside hours and hours of TV each week. Finding a model that brings in a steady income every month is sensible. Maliciously or otherwise, they've over-estimated it's potential so far but now it's established, they've something to work with. I do wonder if they could have done it without PPV initially to try and maximise two revenue streams but all in all, I'm not sure that was a goer. I wonder if it also gives them leverage they wouldn't otherwise have in TV deal renegotiations. They are clearly going to be low-balled for falling ratings. Having the capability to take their viewers and sponsors in-house gives them some negotiating power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Briefcase Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 WWE are good at spinning bullshit though so wouldn't surprise me if they still get a decent deal plucking numbers from Network, YouTube, Instagram and those billions of likes on Facebook etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted April 10, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted April 10, 2017 Initially, I think most people were expecting them to chuck the PPVs that weren't doing the business on the Network and saving your Rumble/Mania/Summer Slam etc for the PPV, seeing as those shows still successfully translated to PPV buys. Vince obviously thought it was worth the gamble to secure a big launch number, but realistically it was probably overly generous. The UFC model is definitely the smarter one. As a fan, you're being a bit of a shit complaining about the Network. Wrestlemania + all that other content is insane value for 9.99. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Clint Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 I still think WrestleMania should've remained exclusive to PPV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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