Providing Market Intelligence for 40 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

OTT Video Churn Steady at 19%: Study

Parks Associates attributes a chunk of that OTT churn to consumer experimentation. “These are not free trials but instances where consumers are spending real money to try out new OTT services. One-...

More Channels Tune in to Twitch

At last check, Twitch is home to more than a dozen 24/7 “channels,” including ones run and programmed by Fail Army, The Pet Collective, Shout TV, Baeble, Machinima, IGN, Red Bull TV, Arcade Cloud and...

Why Steve Jobs' Grand Vision for a Breakthrough Apple Product Remains Unfulfilled

While the HomePod is new and the actual speaker appears to be of a much higher fidelity than its rivals, it's not a game-changer. "Apple is in a position that they haven't often been in over the pa...

5% of Broadband Users Likely to Cut the Cord in the Next 12 Months

"Many are satisfied with their current provider overall, but these subscribers are aware of the other options available to them and could become actual cord-cutters if their current service does not c...