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

Winning Back Connectivity Trust: What the Survey Reveals About Telecom Customer Retention

Parks Associates found that the average U.S. household had 17 connected devices in 2023. As Parks Associates reported, U.S. homes now average 17 connected devices. This explosive growth puts enormo...

Hands-on with the Google Home Speaker: sound quality and use cases

Market context matters. Analyst firms like Canalys and Parks Associates have followed a hardening smart speaker space, with penetration in the United States hovering around half of broadband household...

Five Reasons I Haven’t Gone Back to Google Home Automations

Parks Associates says more than half of the households in the United States now have at least one smart home device, and the Connectivity Standards Alliance has a list of more than a thousand Matter-c...

Disney vs. Nexstar and Sinclair: What Do They Each Have to Lose in the Jimmy Kimmel Standoff?

“With an older base of viewers who tend to be more conservative, Sinclair and Nexstar are trying to protect their advertising base while Disney has a younger, more diverse audience across its offering...