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

Roku Stock Retreats After Device Maker’s Roaring IPO

The scrappy independent streaming-platform developer has been able to beat Goliaths in the tech biz. Roku had 37% share of all streaming devices owned by U.S. broadband households in the first quarter...

Streaming TV Is Alphabet’s ‘One That Got Away’

Google’s Chromecast streaming-TV device didn’t lose ground, but given that it’s only utilized as a streaming TV device by 17% of streaming video viewers — despite launching in 2013 with considerably l...

How Roku Morphed From a Quirky Hardware Startup to a TV Streaming Powerhouse

Roku has kept its eye on simplicity ever since that first player while also making products that often are far more affordable than those of its competition. “People underappreciate how important pric...

No more family freeloaders: Netflix to charge extra for sharing accounts

The trial is part of the streamer’s ongoing campaign to ensure revenue is not lost as the streaming space has grown increasingly competitive. According to an analysis by research firm Parks Associates...