We’ll have updated coverage of the call live as it happens. Credit to Sean Ross Sapp for the updates.
* George Barrios mentions they released their quarterly financial results on their website earlier.
* WrestleMania happened in quarter 1 of 2015, as opposed to quarter 2 2014. This has an effect on the huge profits.
* WrestleMania was the highest grossing live event in WWE history.
* Total Divas was E! network’s number one show. Vince McMahon says this is because the Kardashians were on hiatus.
* McMahon mentions Smackdown will move to USA, and thinks that will improve viewership alone.
* McMahon jokingly invites listeners to join Tough Enough.
* 196,000 WWE Network subscribers were international. 94 percent of subscribers access the Network at least once a month.
* “From inception to 3/31/15, WWE Network had attracted nearly 1.8M unique subscribers w/ 74% of subscribers active as of that date”- George Barrios. They aren’t going to update subscriber numbers on this call.
* Barrios repeatedly mentioned that WrestleMania was in Q1 this year instead of Q2.
* WWE video game profits improved over 30 percent. WWE Supercard is mentioned as a contributor. PPV revenue was also ahead of expectations.
* The Q&A portion starts. WWE says they’re always looking at expanding the advertising model for the Network, but doesn’t think it’ll be in 2015.
* McMahon says it’s possible they could change the price of the Network for WrestleMania or Summerslam, but have to look at the info. He says as of now they’re not, but it’s possible in the future.
* Most of the WrestleMania PPV buys were international, according to Barrios.
* “Advertisers aren’t interested in simple rating. Our programming is engaging. Not just an experience, but immersive.”- McMahon
* Laura Martin calls Vince McMahon the best business man of anyone she covers.
* Someone’s phone goes off, and their alert tone was Michael Cole yelling “Oh my!”
* Barrios is asked what they’ve learned incrementally about the sources of churn. Barrios says he doesn’t think they’ve learned anything.
* CableVision in Canada is targeting for cutters. This could open up the possibilities for more deals with Rogers, but they say the Canadian model is different.
* CableVision in Canada is targeting for cutters. This could open up the possibilities for more deals with Rogers, but they say the Canadian model is different.
* They thank everyone for calling in and listening as we close the call.
