The WWE Network has been a pleasant addition to the WWE brand as a whole. The ability to watch recaps of current WWE programming, as well as old school episodes of Raw, SmackDown and Monday Nitro, gives the viewer an opportunity to catch up on years of wrestling.
The original content keeps the subscriber satisfied, and yet wanting more.
For quite some time, WWE network subscribers have been getting a free month of subscription once they make the decision join the Network. Even during WrestleMania, a new subscriber can join and get a month for free.
With a surge in business during the most important time of the professional wrestling year, the goal for the rest of the year is to retain a majority of those subscribers, However, some interesting statistics were released, as per Vice Sports, regarding the staggering exit rate of Network subscribers:
According to the statistics, the WWE Network has amassed 4,587,000 total accounts since launching the platform in 2014. Since then, 3,076,000 accounts have left the service, leaving the company with just over 1.5 million subscribers. That equates to nearly 70 percent of subscribers feeling as if WWE was not doing enough to keep them invested.
Also read: WWE News: WWE Network halts fans using shared accounts
This number is indeed shocking, but not very surprising. For a number of years, the television product has left many scratching their heads on who the target audience is. Many traditional wrestling fans were reeled in due to the “larger-than-life” approach that pro wrestling once presented.
While names such as Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant were never known as having a good, or even decent wrestling ability, their characters, along with compelling storyline development, caused WrestleMania 3 to have 93,000 fans in the Pontiac Silverdome.
From a business standpoint, the dwindling numbers should not go unaddressed. However, with Vince McMahon being a person obsessed with image, looking good in front of important executives and shareholders is his mission appears to be more important, regardless of what fans think of the brand.
Vice Sports affirms.
“Inflating attendance numbers exemplifies Vince's approach to the business, doing whatever it takes to maintain a certain image. Moreover, it continues to blur the line between WWE as a real-life, publicly traded corporation and the WWE that exists as it appears on television.
Much like how Vince has created a fictionalized version of his family, he seems to have done the same with his company.”
Sadly, this hurts the viewer, because the emphasis of what brought WWE to the dance does not look to be the primary concentration. Vince, being a businessman, is solely looking at what brings in the money.
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