I think they'll let the price point get away from them, in much the same way that PPV rates have climbed over the years. They'll miss the fact that so many people subscribe to Netflix because the pricepoint is so miniscule that it lowers the barrier of entry to even try the product, and actively keeps people from cancelling the service even when they're unhappy because it's so cheap. However, I also think it will still be an incredible value once things like their Memphis tape library, old ECW Hardcore TV episodes that only ever aired in the local Philly market, and every episode of Raw and Smackdown make their way to the network. Toward this end, WWE will never need to reach out to other promotions like ROH or TNA as you mention, because the amount of wrestling history WWE owns is incredible. Plus it's doubtful WWE would ever dedicate time on their own resource that they built to another promotion, considering ROH is currently owned by Sinclair Broadcasting, and TNA is... well... TNA.
I think we'll also see a shift away from DVD/Blu Ray production and distribution. They will still film the material, but we could very likely see a world where this content is released exclusively on the Network. Look for them to test the waters with this by putting many of their most successful DVDs onto the Network first, and gauge their viewership popularity there. They already do this with many of their features on Netflix, and I wouldn't be surprised if their Netflix numbers influenced their decision to go with a streaming solution. I could see a case for where they stop shipping content on disc entirely, cutting out the overhead of physical production and distribution in favor of their new all digital all streaming model.
I, for one, am elated that they went the streaming app model. I didn't want another channel, and neither did the cable carriers. I cut the cord ages ago, and I'm not going back. Further, I was never able to watch Smackdown (or more recently Main Event) in the history of ever, because I never lived in a market that carried a UPN, My Network TV, or any other network affiliate channel they aired it on. I immediately signed up for Hulu after they inked their deal with WWE, and was happy I finally had a consistent place to watch Smackdown for once in my life, plus NXT and Main Event. But I didn't care about any of the rest of the content on Hulu, I was literally only subscribed for the WWE shows. A WWE centric streaming solution I can subscribe to and stream is exactly in my wheelhouse.
I think the biggest question is how this is going to affect PPVs and booking moving forward. Booking a WWE show has really evolved right alongside the evolution of the 12 PPVs/yr model. When you go back and watch old WWF content from before Wrestlemania I even, it was a different show. The pacing was different, the builds and what was expected by a crowd at a show was different. Then Wrestlemania happened, then they started doing a few other bigger shows with bigger cards throughout the year, and really built the PPV model that companies like UFC enjoy to this day. Then a weekly fixture TV show in Monday Night RAW. Then WCW came along with Nitro and started running PPVs in the same months WWF would. More PPV shows per year, more TV, and more competition changed the pacing and the complexion of the product as a whole. Now we're all used to the three weeks of build up to a monthly event model, as that has been the status quo for over two decades now.
But the Network will inevitably have an affect on this. The entire concept of a PPV kind of falls apart when all content on the Network is PPV in the sense that you have to pay to access any of it, and the current PPVs are all included in the price going forward. Plus, if the Network takes off as I expect it will, I fully believe the PPV carriers will drop WWE content out of some misguided spite for daring to trying to invent a new business model that cuts them out of the picture. Or perhaps WWE will see the strength of their initiative proves they don't need them, and themselves stop running PPVs entirely in the old way, moving that content exclusively to their own Network. Either way, I think this is going to have some eventual effect in how the big PPV events are presented and run.
In the current model, you build to the monthly event and you run 12 of them a year, because that's where the money lies. Selling higher priced tickets and a large one time viewing fee to convert the free TV viewers in to paying customers once every month. However, in a model where you have a larger pool of people paying $10/mo for all of your content, the necessity for a big show every month dissipates. With something like the Network in play, do you even need to run 12 big events a year anymore? Especially when only four of them traditionally do huge numbers, and the rest can literally be considered filler PPVs because that's just the cycle they built themselves in to competing against WCW. Is it even cost effective for the WWE to run 12 PPVs a year? One could argue that the cost of trying to ramp up to running more PPVs in a calendar year is part of what put a financial strain on ECW, leading to their eventual demise. The perception at the time was they needed to run more PPVs and TV to compete, but it wasn't financially viable in the end. Or look at TNA, who has been in the process of scaling down their PPV offerings, because it literally isn't cost effective for them to even try to put on 12 live shows a year on PPV. Perhaps in the wake of the Network's launch, WWE finds the same to be true, and runs less big events stateside, in order to focus more time on running shows internationally where they are drawing bigger and bigger gates with every tour.
I imagine this line of thinking is what has current wrestlers on the roster worried about compensation moving forward, since traditionally bonuses and pay rates have been tied to your position on the card and appearance on the PPVs. And the reason we keep hearing about management cancelling and moving the meetings to discuss the ramifications of the Network and pay is because they may not know either. I can only postulate that the Network will inevitably have an affect on the PPV schedule going forward, but I can't really begin to predict what the future will hold. It's pretty uncharted territory at this point. Exciting to me as a customer in the value contained in the product as presented, but I can understand the questions and worry coming from the locker room regarding the shift.
We live in interesting times, that's for sure.
