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View Full Version : WWE Network Survey Asks If Fans Would Pay Extra For Current Raw & SmackDown



Kemo
04-28-2016, 08:49 PM
Last night, Andrew “CarlosTheDwarf” Milage tweeted this:

@adecorativedrop @mookieghana first time getting a WWE Network survey, have they asked this before? pic.twitter.com/1yUXbZGvaW

— Andrew Milgate (@carlosthedwarf_) April 28, 2016

The images as of a WWE Network survey, which included two new items of note:


This question: “If current episodes of Raw and SmackDown were to be added to WWE Network the day after airing on TV, how much more likely would you be to subscribe to WWE Network?“
The question “Which of the following are reasons why you would return to WWE Network? (Select as many that apply.)” with this as a new choice: “If there was a premium WWE Network subscription for $12.99 that includes current episodes of Raw and SmackDown the day after they air on TV.“


Access to current episodes of Monday Night Raw and SmackDown has often been cited by cord cutters as something that would entice them to subscribe to WWE Network and ditch cable/satellite television subscriptions. WWE’s TV contracts are a hurdle there, and not just domestically. As it is right now, Raw and SmackDown are added to WWE Network 30 days after they air, which is in compliance with all of their TV contracts.

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Domestically, the only way to see more than WWE’s YouTube clips online via an officially licensed partner is Hulu Plus. On one hand, it does offer next day Raw and SmackDown. On the other hand, not only is it a separate paid subscription service, but Raw isn’t even complete. USA Network is very protective of the full version of Raw, so they go with one of the edited versions that WWE sends to international television partners. That edit runs about 90 minutes or sowithout commercials, so it would be a “two hour” Raw with commercials. Of course, some fans say it’s a far superior version of Raw, so your mileage may vary.

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Last year, WWE ran into a different roadblock with a TV partner when they launched WWE Network in the United Kingdom. At the time, and going back to the early days of the network, Main Event aired live or almost live on Tuesdays. WWE’s deal with Sky Sports, their television partner in the region, conflicted with Main Event airing first on WWE Network, so a change had to be made. From then on, without any announcement or other kind of fanfare, Main Event was taken off the network’s linear feed and wasn’t added to the on demand library until three weeks after it aired everywhere on traditional television.

$3 per subscription doesn’t sound like close to enough to give WWE a war chest big enough to satisfy all TV partners, but they clearly have something in mind.