| Emperor Smeat |
02-11-2016 10:21 PM |
Dirtsheets sponsored by Finnbacca:
http://i.imgur.com/Jh7LgON.gif
First couple of sheet news is from the recent fiscal report by the WWE with some good and some bad:
Quote:
During today's WWE Fourth Quarter 2015 earnings call with investors, Vince McMahon was asked about the current string of injuries in WWE and how they will still have a good WrestleMania 32. Vince responded:
Quote:
"By being creative. We'll have an awesome WrestleMania. It'll be very attractive to our audience, just as attractive as last year."
|
Vince McMahon noted during today's Fourth Quarter 2015 earnings call that the company isn't as worried about TV ratings like they once were.
An investor asked about WWE TV ratings being down for several quarters now and Vince said the ratings are down but not as much as other programming on the networks they work with. Vince talked about how people aren't watching TV as much as they used to. Vince said TV is still extremely important to WWE but when you add in their digital and social content, their audience is consuming content when they want to and how they want to. Vince said that is important to WWE.
Vince added that WWE is not just about TV ratings anymore. He acknowledged that the company used to "live and die by" ratings but that was before the era of new media.
|
On the flip side, very unlikely their next tv deal will be any better if the ratings and viewership keeps declining. Also USA Network probably not going to be happy the more WWE's Youtube clips and Hulu keep pulling viewers away since they get no cut of the ad revenue WWE makes.
Quote:
STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) _ World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (WWE) on Thursday reported a loss of $1.2 million in its fourth quarter.
The Stamford, Connecticut-based company said it had a loss of 2 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 4 cents per share.
The producer of professional wrestling events and television shows posted revenue of $166.2 million in the period.
For the year, the company reported net income of $24.1 million, or 32 cents per share, swinging to a profit in the period. Revenue was reported as $658.8 million.
WWE shares have declined 12 percent since the beginning of the year. The stock has climbed 20 percent in the last 12 months.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/wwe-re...134928384.html
|
Stocks dropped by around 8% from the fiscal report announcement. In terms of overall stocks, still haven't reached early Network launch levels. While the quarter itself was a net loss, in terms of revenues it was one of their highest ever in company history.
Quote:
WWE Network had 1.22 million ending paid subscribers, representing a 49% increase from the fourth quarter 2014; WWE Network hit an all-time high of 1.24 million average paid subscribers for the quarter
WWE Network was recognized as the fifth largest direct-to-consumer (“OTT”) subscription service in the U.S. according to Parks Associates, ranking alongside Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu and MLB.TV
WWE Network subscribers watched an estimated total of 256 million hours of content, representing an average of 188 hours per household placing it among the top cable and broadcast networks
WWE content garnered more than 8 billion views on YouTube; WWE was the most followed sports channel on YouTube and the second most followed sports brand on Facebook
WWE generated 790 million social media fan engagements in 20152; Sprinklr’s Social Business Index ranked WWE as the 6th most social brand worldwide, alongside Disney, Time Warner and Google
|
Some good news/bad news in regards to the Network with the good being the amount of content has made it a strong service and the bad being outside of some expected bumps (Mania and Summerslam), its been leveling out at around 1.2-1.4 million for paid subs. Going to fall well short of the original expectations which was meant to be in the 3-4 million range for paid subs and that's counting the worldwide expansions.
Observer has a more detailed breakdown of the key parts of today's fiscal report: http://www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/ke...results-207441
And now your regularly scheduled sheet programing:
Quote:
Originally Posted by PWTorch
Week 3 of Lucha Underground on El Rey Network rebounded from a dip in Week 2 to match the season premiere.
February 10: Lucha Underground drew a combined audience of 217,000 viewers, improving on 201k last week and matching 216k for the season premiere.
The first airing drew 136,000 viewers, the most through three weeks. The replay then drew 81,000 viewers.
|
In terms of comparisons with Season 1, Season 2 is currently on track to top Season 1's viewership average.
Quote:
Daniel Bryan wanted to quit WWE and wrestle for another company, Dave Meltzer is reporting in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
He had been studying CMLL heavily, and had actually grown his hair with the idea of going there and doing a hair versus mask match.
The fact he was putting so much thought into his post-WWE career shows how serious he was about leaving. He was also looking at Ring Of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling.
"He was watching those promotions and it was something he was genuinely excited about doing, thinking he could help the industry as a whole to use his stardom to help build a larger following for the other companies,” Meltzer states.
He actually asked Vince McMahon for the release. Unsurprisingly, McMahon denied it. Contractually, WWE could keep him tied down to the deal they had, due to injuries allowing the company to freeze time left on contracts. He would have been paid to basically not leave, as his appearance elsewhere could have hurt WWE.
However, with Bryan’s latest medical testing showing a problem with his brain, he has now made the decision to retire. He won’t be wrestling elsewhere. His retirement speech on Raw this week was a shoot, he really is done in the industry.
He’ll remain on a WWE contract and fans should expect further character appearances.
|
Update to the Bryan retirement story and what he was planning prior to the results of the last tests. Technically even with the retirement, his contract is likely still frozen with the WWE.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WrestlingDVDNetwork
“Living on a Razor’s Edge – The Scott Hall Story” is coming to DVD and Blu-ray on July 4th, 2016 in the United Kingdom, and follows on July 5th, 2016 in the United States.
As we’ve previously noted the format of this one will be the classic Superstar-themed 3 disc DVD and 2 disc Blu-ray. On there you can expect to see a documentary on the WWE Hall of Famer, and of course a collection of his best matches and moments to go along with it.
The first synopsis for the set reads as follows:
Quote:
A biography on the life and times of WWE Hall of Famer, Scott Hall.
Hear from the man himself, Scott Hall, as he candidly discusses his rise to wrestling fame, his decline with personal demons, and his attempt to get his life back while training his son to carry on his wrestling legacy.
|
|
Quote:
As noted, Titus O’Neil was suspended by WWE on Tuesday morning for 60 days (originally reported to be 90 days, but later confirmed at the reduced number) for an incident with Vince McMahon during the Daniel Bryan retirement celebration after WWE RAW on Monday. Titus was reportedly joking with Vince in a playful manner, and multiple sources told Satin that O’Neil was just trying to allow Stephanie McMahon to leave the stage first.
Looking at video of the incident, Stephanie and Vince look to be walking side-by-side, and sources told Satin that Titus said he was only saying “ladies first” when he grabbed Vince’s arm to be polite. Titus later spoke with management and explained himself, but also understood how his actions could have been perceived by others.
|
Update of the Titus incident from his side of the story.
Quote:
A current WWE star is fairly strongly considering MMA when his contract expires. To me, once you get past about 27, even if you are a top level athlete (and Brock Lesnar’s don’t grow on trees), MMA isn’t the way to go as a career if you can still do WWE. It’s one thing if you’re already rich and it’s a bucket list thing like with Dave Bautista or Punk, but not for a regular guy looking to switch careers. If it’s one of the Gerald Brisco developmental guys, and there are a lot of them, who aren’t making money in NXT, then the equation is different than for a main roster regular
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Observer
A special show on the very first WrestleMania in 1985 will air at 10:30 p.m. Eastern tomorrow night on the MSG Network. Among those interviewed were Vince McMahon, Roddy Piper and Hulk Hogan. Hogan's quotes were a nice work of fiction saying that when he went in the ring, he was afraid Piper and Paul Orndorff would break Mr. T's leg.
|
Figured that might be useful for those who get that channel.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Observer
Mark Nulty, who was a former wrestling announcer and ring announcer who was in charge of the Wrestling Classics web site and message board passed away last night after a long battle with lung cancer.
|
Observer had a lengthy obituary about Nulty and his career in wrestling. http://www.f4wonline.com/other-wrest...es-away-207411
Quote:
Originally Posted by 411Mania
“Never give up. Back in 2003, 2002, when I was just wearing boots and tights and I was supposed to be the ruthless aggression young good guy, nobody in the company liked me. I know Vince McMahon won’t admit this, but he wanted me fired, Triple H wanted me fired, everybody hated me. They just wouldn’t give me a forum to showcase my talents. I’ve always been able to connect with the audience if given the ability to speak.
“I got that ability and I was off to the races. I was up against all odds. I wasn’t born into this business. I’m not a third generation guy or a second generation guy. I’m just a dude who grew up a fan like all you guys and I wanted to do this my whole life. And I never gave up. That’s the advice I give to all the young cats, all the guys who have been trying and trying, trying to make it, attempt after attempt. I’ve failed many times, but you never ever give up.”
|
Story from Cena about how close he got to being fired prior to the Thuganomics gimmick. Several stories usually point to the Halloween show in 2002 and Stephanie accidentally hearing him rap backstage one time as the main reasons he kept his job in the end.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/irx71tYyI-Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Some other sheet news includes: - For those interested, the Observer is currently having a sale with one month of Observer content available at a $3.99 discount. http://www.f4wonline.com/news/f4wonl...nly-399-202426
- Rumors of Mike Knox recently signing a WWE were revealed to be fake and just someone trolling on Twitter using a fake Knox account.
- WWE announced another season of Swerved is currently being planned for the WWE Network.
- Some confusion regarding the recent Bryan seizure news with the main source being the interview with Sportscenter. A report or two revealed while Bryan purposely hid them so fans and WWE wouldn't know, he didn't when it came to his doctors for tests and medical checkups.
- Kurt Angle revealed he will be inducted to the Arnold Sports Hall of Fame as part of this year's class. https://twitter.com/RealKurtAngle/st...85211363667970
- Recently fired ROH ref gave his side of the story regarding the sexual harassment claims and basically confirmed it was true. Also confirmed being dumb enough to do it, joking or not, right in front of the head booker. http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/6733...other-employee
- For those interested, WWE currently selling AJ Style hoodie merchandise at their online store. http://shop.wwe.com/AJ-Styles-%22I-a...efault,pd.html
- Observer teased the WWE might be working on a new DVD or Network special for Daniel Bryan since they were filming a lot of extra stuff backstage at RAW.
|
