WWE Network To Start Airing Commercials

[klunderbunker]

E-mail I got this morning:

Dear WWE Network Subscriber,

Today WWE Network will begin to run limited video advertisements.

Here's what you can expect:

• No commercial breaks during scheduled programming
• Limited advertising between shows
• Occasional advertising before our video-on-demand content

If you have any questions regarding your subscription, please visit wwe.com/help. Thank you for being a WWE Network subscriber.

WWE Network Support

I'm stunned it took them eight months to do this. Assuming the commercials run about thirty seconds or so, I have zero problems with this.

 

[MrHashasheen]

Over/under on how badly this will drop their subscription numbers? I'm thinking a few thousand at most.

 

[The Butcher]

Better than a price hike.

 

[Blue Chipper]

I'm not renewing my subscription! I have to sit through a commercial? But I paid $9.99!

I already see people complaining about this. I really don't see how, in any way, this can be regarded as something terrible; this is nothing.

 

[klunderbunker]

I'll take this over it going up to $12.99 any day. People will complain but then they'll realize that by the time they check their email, the ad is over. This is going to help offset a good chunk of the lost money too.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

Hulu is a paid service that has commercials, this isn't a new concept, but since wrestling fans are involved you know people will bitch.

 

[Good Golly It's Ollie]

Better than a price hike.

Yes, absolutely.

I hate intrusive ads as much as the next guy, but WWE are doing this for the benefit of the consumer. They have already stated in KB's e-mail that this won't interrupt the shows; it's before or in between, so it's not that intrusive. The 4 on demand ones have like 4 ads in the middle if I remember from when they were on Youtube.

Also kudos to the E for e-mailing everyone in advance rather than springing a sudden change on them.

It's obvious that the network was an idealised concept from day one. It's proved slightly less financially sound than they thought and they've worked towards the best solution really.

Honestly this is one situation I think the company has handled pretty well.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

More time to check that no one is looking and whip out your dick before the show starts.

 

[Remix]

Yeah, WWE aren't going to make the network profitable via ads, if they're considering increasing the price this won't stop them. Companies aren't going to pay much for the advertising space because:

A) it's a small market. Why advertise on the network instead of Youtube where a billion people will see your ad rather than a few thousand

B) Wrestling fans are looked down on by advertisers so they'll be less inclined to pay much money to advertise.

C) Other sites let the ads play more frequently. Blip, for example has shorter videos than the average Network programme and allows pre, post and midroll adverts, so ads will be played more often providing a better return on investment.

 

[Uncle Sam]

I too think this worsening of a subscription service is a great move and would like WWE to roll over so I can scratch its tummy. I would also like to take this time to draw attention to what a beacon of patience I am. I would never, ever even dream of complaining. Why, perhaps I'll pause videos and then just go watch ads at random intervals just for fun.

I bet other people are complaining. They are obviously awful and not great (like I am).

 

[red ass skull muhfukkah]

If it's like Hulu it should be fine, the ads are usually 30 seconds to a minute long and they space it out enough so it's not as much of a bother as tv commercials. As long as they're not mid match I have no problem.

 

[Slash-LN]

Okay. Cool. Whatever.
Anyone who complains about it is a moron.
If people honestly cancel their subscription over this then they're just a bunch of whine ass little bitches.

I'm not talking about anyone here who posted before me because obviously they were being sarcastic.

Anyway I hardly use the network for much anyway. 30 second ads? Cool. Go for it.

 

[One Punch Doug Crashin]

Isn't the point of having a subscription NOT to show ads?

 

[Richard Blonoff]

No, not at all. If you have a magazine subscription do you get magazines without ads?

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Isn't the point of having a subscription NOT to show ads?

No. Magazines and newspapers have done it for years. I paid a premium beyond what Sirius XM charges for Howard Stern and he runs commercials as well. Sounds like Hulu does it as well. You'll be OK.

 

[Wally Dangerously]

I prefer no commercials.

 

[Dirk]

They should include ads for the WWE Network on the WWE Network.

Vinception!

 

[Remix]

They should include ads for the WWE Network on the WWE Network.

Vinception!

They're going to have to. Noone else is going to buy ad time. Also, (in the UK at least) quite a few youtube preroll ads are for other youtube videos.

 

[klunderbunker]

They're going to have to. Noone else is going to buy ad time. Also, (in the UK at least) quite a few youtube preroll ads are for other youtube videos.

Pepsi and K-Mart already have bought ads on the Network.

 

[Remix]

Huh. I stand corrected.

 

[ABMorales787]

As long as they aren't asking which ad experience I would want.

 

[Барбоса]

With a captive audience of potentially a million people, surely the question should be "why wouldn't certain companies pay to put their adverts on the Network?"

They buy advertising space on TV channels that have far fewer viewers.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

With a captive audience of potentially a million people, surely the question should be "why wouldn't certain companies pay to put their adverts on the Network?"

They buy advertising space on TV channels that have far fewer viewers.

Even this site can find companies willing to advertise on it. The big question is how much are those companies willing to pay? If they got Pepsi on board that sounds like a really good sign. However, they may given Pepsi a discount ($9.99 )to advertise so they themselves can advertise to marketing firms, "Hey! We got Pepsi. We are legit. You should want to work with us."

 

[Remix]

With a captive audience of potentially a million people, surely the question should be "why wouldn't certain companies pay to put their adverts on the Network?"

For the same money they could advertise on Twitch which has more advertising space and far more people logged in at any given time

They buy advertising space on TV channels that have far fewer viewers.

TV advertising is also more effective. That's why companies willingly spend 20 times as much on TV advertising as they do on web advertising

 

[Барбоса]

For the same money they could advertise on Twitch which has more advertising space and far more people logged in at any given time

TV advertising is also more effective. That's why companies willingly spend 20 times as much on TV advertising as they do on web advertising

"Far more effective" likely means "far more expensive." And just because there are other larger outlets does not mean that companies that advertise are going to ignore other avenues of getting their product seen.

And for the likes of Pepsi and K-Mart, who sell the kind of products that people consume when watching wrestling, it is tapping into another available captive audience. I would not be at all surprised to see the likes of Pringles, Lays, Mars, Hersheys, KFC, movie companies etc. joining the list of those advertising on the Network.