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

Hub: Amazon Eyes Winning Formula With Ad-Supported Prime Video

A separate study from Parks Associates found that Prime Video still remains the No. 1 SVOD service in the United States, based on subscriber tallies. Prime is estimated to have 160 million members in...

Walmart’s bid for Vizio would make it a different kind of company

“That’s increasingly where the money is,” said Jennifer Kent, vice president of research at Parks Associates. She said these days, a TV’s worth is tied to its streaming platform. Walmart’s private...

Matter Standard Revolutionizes Smart Home Interoperability: Challenges and Opportunities

According to Parks Associates' latest security dealer survey, familiarity with the Matter standard among dealers has increased to 24% in 2023, up from 16% in 2022. However, there's still a signifi...

The Sunday Brief: Fourth quarter earnings—out of favor

Nearby is a chart shared in a recent Parks Associates release indicating the price/ value customer satisfaction rates for various technologies.    The news release summarizes their findings as fol...