the opportunity to tell the stories in the way we want to tell them . In Brock Lesnar ' s case it was really a special case that we are allowing him to do this fight [ against Mark Hunt on July 9 ]. But like you said it ' s not really a crosspromotional opportunity , but we are allowing him to participate in that fight .
We are not supporting the fight necessarily but , again , it ' s not a competitor to us and the more that our superstars , that ' s how we refer to our talent , the more they do outside of WWE , the more awareness it generates and the broader the audience can be that is then brought back into our properties . So we recognize the value of that .
O ' Reilly : I wanted to ask about WWE Network and how it ' s performing . What expectations did you set at the start and now where are you at ?
McMahon : It is now our fastest-growing and second most-profitable business , behind television rights and licensing . For WrestleMania , we announced 1.8 million subscribers and in just two years that ' s not too shabby .
Our whole content proposition , it ' s like it functions almost exactly like Netflix , except you get a little bit more bang for your buck . So we like to say it ' s like Netflix only better , if you ' re a WWE fan , because not only do we offer the VOD content , which we currently have over 5,000 , which we continue to add our library to . We create original programming . We also offer our live , monthly specials , our pay-per-view specials , for incredible value of $ 9.99 a month , versus $ 59 and up in the US .
Also , we have a linear channel , so you can turn on and watch it just like a regular , pre-programmed channel , or you can have the customized experience . It really is very unique that way and it was one of the first to market prior to HBO and a couple of the other big launches .
O ' Reilly : How do you treat rights licensing when it comes to things like Twitter , Facebook , Snapchat — these are huge distribution channels that media companies are learning how to use and monetize . For example , certain sports companies like the NFL have cut deals with Twitter , are you trying to do that kind of thing as well — selling on rights as opposed to just putting your content out there for free ? How do you divide it up ?
McMahon : Our whole content distribution system is really a three-pronged approach . We have AVOD , which is advertising-funded video on demand , like YouTube , where
we are actually consistently one of the top three mostviewed YouTube channels in the world . We are the number one sports channel on YouTube , beating FIFA and NFL , ESPN , NBA , everybody . So that ' s the AVOD piece Then of course our television rights distribution , internationally , because we are in 180 countries and 25 languages .
Then the WWE network , which is our biggest focus as a company right now .
O ' Reilly : So when you look at those social channels , it ' s about them being advertising-funded ?
McMahon : We also recognize the value of the share of voice , so we utilize a content ecosystem and it doesn ' t matter to us where our fans enter in that ecosystem . We are platform agnostic : we want to be everywhere so our fans can consume our content any time any place anywhere and on any device .
So whether it is TV or our live events , which is also an experiential opportunity , which is more and more what the millennial audience want , but also for families because families can go and it ' s affordable . It ' s not so ridiculously overpriced that you can ' t take your family and enjoy it . And we come to you . We have over 400 live events every year , so we are bringing our product to you . Then we have digital and social , I mentioned YouTube , but also Facebook is a huge partner for us . So is Twitter , Instagram , Snapchat is absolutely a key focus for us as well .
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