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NO NETWORK UPDATE, SUMMERSLAM WAS A 'SWING AND A MISS' COMPLETE WWE EARNINGS CALL COVERAGE

By Mike Johnson on 2013-10-31 11:31:00
They opened up with Vince talking about the increase in television rights revenue (Total Divas and Main Event) and noting that Summerslam had a "weak" showing and that fans didn't "buy the attraction, as these are attraction events."

Vince said that PPV distribution online noted they did over 17,000 buys via that means and with the addition of PS3, that was over 160% increase.

Vince noted the launch of the John Cena kids clothing line and additional TV in China and Japan.

Vince said they are continuing to pursue the WWE Network with "traditional and non-traditional" means.

Vince discussed their TV rights coming up. He said he compares them to NASCAR and that they look forward to discussions with NBC Universal and other potential partners. He noted they are also have deals coming up in India and the UK and they are actively pursuing new deals. Vince said that they expect their business will be "transformed" from what it is now.

They expect their new WWE Studios strategy, which began with the No Holds Barred DVD release, is expected to make them a 13% profit down the line. They are still taking impairments due to losses from the old strategies.

Barrios ran down the earnings numbers. The TV revenue raise is due to Main Event and Total Divas. He noted their digital media and social media numbers were way up.

They blamed PPVs being down this quarter specifically on Summerslam doing much worse than they expected.

They spent $30 million on the new corporate jet purchase and improvements to the jet.

They feel the Network will do well it is executed via traditional or "over the top" digital distribution.

They opened the line for the question and answer portion of the call.

They were asked about the negotiation of the new TV rights and why they feel they will get them done by April 2014, as was noted in today's release. Vince McMahon said there is a window where they NBC has exclusive rights to renegotiate with them until the first of the year and then they can negotiate with other parties. He is confident that they can lock in a new deal within the time period they noted.

They were noted that the release mentioned a potential restructuring if they didn't sign new TV deals. They were asked about that. Barrios said he didn't want to go too much into it. Vince said it was a failsafe for reducing costs "if the worst happened, that's what we would do."

They were asked about the PPVs going forward and whether the numbers were a sign of the Network becoming more important. Vince said that PPV is an attraction-driven business. He said that Summerslam was a "swing and a miss". He said that it was nothing more than that. Barrios said that they see growth in all of their business areas.

No announcement or even discussion of the Network.

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