[theQman17]

Following the announcement of creation of the WWE Network last year, to debut sometime this year, the new venture by the WWE has gone through a number of obstacles in the course to going on the air in the homes of the WWE universe.

Over the past few months, it has been reported that the WWE Network hasn’t gotten any major cable provider to pick up the channel on their lineups of subscription channels.

In addition to this, the entire channel was pushed back until later this fall, when it was originally going to debut at WrestleMania.

During the annual stockholder’s meeting Friday at WWE headquarters in Connecticut, the chairman and CEO of the WWE, Vince McMahon, commented on the future of the WWE Network after being asked by one of the company’s stockholders.

Regarding the Network launching, Vince admitted he did not have an answer but said an announcement is forthcoming. He said they are taking their time so they can keep options open.

While understanding the reasoning behind McMahon's not wanting to announce a date, the holding off on saying anything about the WWE Network might start hurting the chances that cable providers and fans alike pick up the channel later this year.

The WWE Network can still be a success for the company if it focuses on wrestling, like hosting pay-per-views and other live action instead of depending on bogus reality shows involving some legends of the WWE or the Divas.

After reading McMahon's comment, what are your opinions on the WWE Network? When it finally makes on the air, will the venture be a successful one for the WWE?

 

[thepogotribe]

part of me sees it not making it but thats just me

 

[Dusty Roids]

I hope it´s going to work out well however I have a feeling this will flop just like v-mac's other business ventures like the xfl.

 

[RKO696]

WWE Network will flop harder than the XFL

 

[#Mark]

Huge mistake Vinny Mac.

 

[TakerBourneAgain]

It can be a success if they use it to promote all the wrestling that the WWE has at its disposal.
For example, showing Raw and Smackdown instead of putting them on two different stations. This will be your biggest source of subscription but would limit your audience for the casuals. However, it keeps the audience equal for both shows instead of Raw on one network and smackdown on another network with totally different viewers.

Put the PPVs on it free with subscription excluding the "big 4" which you can put on PPV channels and then repeat on the network in 3-6 months time once it is in the past.

Show old raws baack to back by year. Monday - Friday 6 - 8pm the WWE network will be showing all Monday night Raw episodes from 1996 onward. Monday - Friday 4 - 6pm it will show smackdown from 2000 onward. Use it to show Superstars and NXT.

Then you can tap into the vastness of WCW and ECW that it has. Wednesday from 10pm show WCW Thursday at 10pm show ECW.
Show the old confidential episodes. You can show superstar DVDs condensed from 4 DVD sets into an hour long show or something.
Old PPVs can be shown.

Surely that is enough content to put on the WWE Network? Doesn't even need to be a 24 hour channel. It could begin broadcasting at 10am and finish broadcasting at 12am cutting out 10 hours of the day where you can do what they do in the UK and put "Teleshopping" on for some income. However, filling it with OAP legends in a "big brother" house and a cooking show with big show and cartoons of Cole and Hornswoggle isn't the way to go and is a guaranteed fail. IMO anyway. I wouldn't buy the channel for that. I would for the Wrestling content though.

 

[Punkholic]

After the delay, I honestly think the network will fail :/

 

[Nafstem]

It could be a success if they go about the right way. They could hold each PPV besides the big 4 on that channel, showcase old matches and even do some stuff with legends talking about their favorite matches. They could have people like Austin and Bret talk about them (sort of like how DVD commentary works). They could also do stuff like Legends of Wrestling. Another good idea would be doing some Biography type stuff with former stars. They could call it "Behind the Ropes" or something like that. But it they're just gonna come up with crappy shows for Hornswoggle, then yea this channel is going to flop and flop hard.

 

[All Petite Wrestling]

Source OP

and this...

It can be a success if they use it to promote all the wrestling that the WWE has at its disposal.
For example, showing Raw and Smackdown instead of putting them on two different stations. This will be your biggest source of subscription but would limit your audience for the casuals. However, it keeps the audience equal for both shows instead of Raw on one network and smackdown on another network with totally different viewers.

Put the PPVs on it free with subscription excluding the "big 4" which you can put on PPV channels and then repeat on the network in 3-6 months time once it is in the past.

Show old raws baack to back by year. Monday - Friday 6 - 8pm the WWE network will be showing all Monday night Raw episodes from 1996 onward. Monday - Friday 4 - 6pm it will show smackdown from 2000 onward. Use it to show Superstars and NXT.

Then you can tap into the vastness of WCW and ECW that it has. Wednesday from 10pm show WCW Thursday at 10pm show ECW.
Show the old confidential episodes. You can show superstar DVDs condensed from 4 DVD sets into an hour long show or something.
Old PPVs can be shown.

Surely that is enough content to put on the WWE Network? Doesn't even need to be a 24 hour channel. It could begin broadcasting at 10am and finish broadcasting at 12am cutting out 10 hours of the day where you can do what they do in the UK and put "Teleshopping" on for some income. However, filling it with OAP legends in a "big brother" house and a cooking show with big show and cartoons of Cole and Hornswoggle isn't the way to go and is a guaranteed fail. IMO anyway. I wouldn't buy the channel for that. I would for the Wrestling content though.

I would subscribe for Free PPVs.

 

[muttgeiger]

I would definitely subscribe, if it was half decent. But Vince needs to keep his fingers out of this one, and hire people w/cable network experience to run it. The need to get hire away people from MLB or the NFL network to set it up, who know what the hell they are doing, and let them do their job, without Vince interference. I'm not sure who's in charge. They have plenty of programming, there should absolutely be a 24 hour wrestling nework.

 

[TasteOfVenom]

So will it be like WWE movies and give us completely crappy stuff instead of good stuff?

 

[chargebeam]

If they aim it on wrestling, the network might work because it'll have a precise goal: a network for wrestling fans.

However, if they're planning on throwing in random crap like WWE films, Santino sitcom, cooking with Big Show and this kind of shit, they'll fail big fucking time.

 

[Dr. Jones]

It really depends how much it costs and how much effort they put into maintaining it.

I guess I just don't know what the big difference will be from WWE 24/7 or WWE on Demand. Sure they might put B PPVs on it, but I don't think that's enough to sell it.

 

[dxbender]

If they aim it on wrestling, the network might work because it'll have a precise goal: a network for wrestling fans.

However, if they're planning on throwing in random crap like WWE films, Santino sitcom, cooking with Big Show and this kind of shit, they'll fail big fucking time.

Some stuff won't be that bad, but if they just air old wrestling stuff most of the time, it'll be fine.

Look at NBATV. During the season, we might see 1 game a night, and the rest of the time is either broadcasters talking about the NBA, random basketball related shows, or old basketball games.

The old basketball games air way more once the season is done.

So WWE following a similar model wouldn't really be that bad. Especially since they have dozens of years worth of footage from multiple companies to air(not even including repeats). Imagine them airing a Raw marathon or something lol. It'd take over 4 days to show just a single year of Raw!

 

[Wrestling02370]

I think the WWE Network will fail. I just think pro wrestling is very niche and casual fans wouldnt bother to buy a subscription to the network. Its like UFC to me. I watch the tv shows, may go to a bar to watch the ppvs, but I would never buy a subscription to a network. Its just not that important to me. I can live without it.

 

[Punkholic]

Some stuff won't be that bad, but if they just air old wrestling stuff most of the time, it'll be fine.

Look at NBATV. During the season, we might see 1 game a night, and the rest of the time is either broadcasters talking about the NBA, random basketball related shows, or old basketball games.

The old basketball games air way more once the season is done.

So WWE following a similar model wouldn't really be that bad. Especially since they have dozens of years worth of footage from multiple companies to air(not even including repeats). Imagine them airing a Raw marathon or something lol. It'd take over 4 days to show just a single year of Raw!

You can't compare the NBA to the WWE in terms of popularity. Game 7 of the NBA Finals last year drew 28 million viewers, which is the amount of viewers that RAW draws in 2 months. I think that alone says it all.

 

[#1 Hater]

You can't compare the NBA to the WWE in terms of popularity. Game 7 of the NBA Finals last year drew 28 million viewers, which is the amount of viewers that RAW draws in 2 months. I think that alone says it all.

Raw has better ratings than the NBA regular season and in the past decade (except for this year) it's not even close.

 

[Ratedr4life]

It was bound to fail from the beginning, and this is a sign that it will never actually start up.

 

[Punkholic]

Raw has better ratings than the NBA regular season and in the past decade (except for this year) it's not even close.

True. However, basketball will always have a better reputation than wrestling among people because of the fact that it's a "real sport". At my school, you hear kids talking about basketball all the time, but when someone brings wrestling into the conversation, he always gets made fun of because of watching a "fake sport". So, basketball will always have a better reputation than wrestling among people and society in general...that's why, in my opinion, the WWE Network might not be as successful as NBA TV is.

 

[wkdsoul]

You would think if some football clubs can get away with their own channels with the amount of back catalog info from WCW/WCW/WWE as well as moving the PPV/RAW/SMACK/FCW/NXT and the various reality/chat shows that could be on offer i dont see why a company as big of the WWE couldnt easily put together a decent weekly 24/7 tv schedule.