Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

WWE Is Laying the Smackdown on the World

The market’s enthusiasm for WWE stems largely from its lucrative TV contracts, combined with its early success in direct-to-consumer streaming TV apps. In 2014 the company made a risky move, deciding essentially to cannibalize its traditional pay-per-view business. Instead of paying their cable companies one-time fees to see WWE’s marquee events—say, $44.99 for the Royal Rumble—fans would be encouraged to subscribe to a streaming video service, the WWE Network, and pay a monthly fee. After some early turbulence, the move is paying off. Roughly 1.5 million people now hand over $9.99 a month for the WWE Network, making it the 11th-most-popular streaming video service in the U.S., according to Parks Associates, and the second-most-popular, after Major League Baseball’s, in the “sports-related” category.

From the article "WWE Is Laying the Smackdown on the World" by Felix Gillette and Kim Bhasin.

Previously In The News

Here's The Top Ten Most Popular Streaming Services This Year

Netflix still leads all streaming video services by total subscribers, according to a new report by Parks Associates. That's followed by Amazon Prime, Hulu, MLB.TV, WWE Network, Sling TV, HBO Now, Cru...

Roku's early success magnifies Blue Apron, Snap failures

Investors are still apparently eager for more as the company continues to pivot toward a services-based model from its current focus making boxes for streaming television—a focus that, so far, has bee...

2021 Predictions: ‘Zoom Rooms,’ Full Metal Jackets will shape the year

Twenty-six percent of US broadband households find the idea of making purchases directly from TV shows “appealing or very appealing,” according to a 2020 Parks Associates survey. From the article "...

Comcast, Walmart in talks to develop and distribute smart TVs

Comcast is fairly late to the game in distribution of streaming apps. Roku and Amazon together have a roughly 70% share of the U.S. market for streaming-media devices, with Apple in third place, accor...