WWE is looking to launch the WWE Network as soon as April – which is much earlier than many were expecting. By launching around the time of WrestleMania, WWE can take advantage of the increased exposure WrestleMania will bring to the product.
As you can imagine, there will be a very aggressive marketing campaign leading up to the network’s debut.
WWE has been conducting a number of online surveys in recent months – asking fans to name WWE shows, whether they’d switch cable providers in order to get the WWE Network and if they want to see WWE PPV events aired for free on the network.
Originally, WWE discussed having the Big 4 pay-per-views (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series) – but the latest plan is for the secondary events to air on the network and to cut the PPV schedule from 13 to 4 (the Big 4). WWE makes around $25 million in revenue from WrestleMania and giving that away for free would likely be a disaster for the company. If WWE gave away the Big 4 events free to subscribers of the network – it’s unlikely anybody is paying $45-55 for a Vengeance PPV.
Shows discussed publicly so far for the WWE network include WrestleMania Rewind, a “Legends House” show where former WWE superstars live together, a Divas Bus Tour show following their life on the road and a Monday Night War recap show.
We have TONS more news about the WWE Network at our WWE Network News Page.
(Credit to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter for some of the information used in this report)
