WWE's Slipping PPV Buyrates: Lack Of Interest Or Internet Streams?

[CuddleBuns84]

I think the WWE is having Slipping PPV buy-rates, however their DVDs and toys sell like no tomorrow. As long as those sell, and the PPV buy rates are decent, you won't see them making a big deal in the near future.

But, I see the reason why the buyrates aren't as good as they were a few years ago because, well, the product, and the cost.

Most families know, that you will hear the results the next day, and the WWE, only really puts the focus on your main event staff... Sad days, very sad days.

Just about 4 maybe even less years ago. You had Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle. Oh yea, that wasn't even the main event of the Pay Per View. You had a mid-card the people really cared about. Right now, the product just has 2 or 3 matches, to where Saturday Night Main Event just 3 years ago (A free event I might add) had about 11 matches that everybody knew about. And cared about...

So, I'm thinking more Mid-card pushes and marketing. Get the crowd caring about Cody Rhodes and Zach Ryder. Then your going to get the interest back in the product.

 

[orton0384]

have to admit I am chuckling at the folks saying" lack of interest" followed by" i see tons thousands even people streaming." i agree with most people. who has money for it? not i. its either ppv or merchandise for some kids. some end up at live events. but as parents some see a piece of merch as a better long term investment than a 2 and a half hour event. i remember when ppvs ran at 3 hours and sometimes longer. it was a treat. now however ... it hardly seems worth the green if at all. im paying a cable bill. nuff said lol. i do hope it turns around soon. thanks all for reading. have a wonderful day!

 

[BB79]

Everyone pretty much has it down. The top two being WAY too many ppv's. They will be talking about the next ppv two weeks after the current one. Not enough time to create and sell new angles and not a good move during a recession. The product couldn't keep up with that many ppvs no matter how good, and currently it's not that good. The Nexus angle was the first good thing they've done in a while. Last yr when there were what seemed like 100 bouts between Cena and Batista I was ready to scream. At least Nexus freshened things up.

 

[Davi323]

I think it comes down to three things: price, number of PPVs, and the necessary lack of buildup when they are so close together.

45 bucks is a lot to ask of fans. It was fine when the WWE had 6 PPVs a year, but when you start having them every 3 weeks, it gets a little saturated. PPVs no longer feel like they are the culmination of feuds. All they are now are special editions of Raw and Smackdown that you have to pay for. The day after a PPV, its no longer dealing with the repercussions of what happened, its immediately build up to the next PPV time, because they are scheduled so damned close together.

If the WWE spread them out a little more, reduced the number of them, they could make them feel special again, and get more people to see the value in the cost. Once a month is simply too many PPVs a year to shell out 45 bucks a pop for. I can't afford to give the WWE 500 bucks a year to watch PPVs that don't resolve anything, and I am sure there are a lot of other people in the same situation.

I call it the "very special Blossom" effect. I don't know how many of you are old enough to remember this show, but every week, NBC would hype it as being a "very special" episode. Blossom has her first kiss, loses virginity, brother does drugs, dad picks his nose, blahblahblah...well, when every episode is "very special", what they really mean is none of them are special. Special should be reserved for once in a while, not every week. with the WWE, it's monthly PPVs. If we only had a PPV once every two months, giving us about eight weeks of build up, it would feel more special, and I would be less hesitant to give up my cash. It's all tied together.

 

[goodlay]

WWE is really shooting themselves in the foot here with the packed PPV schedule. We only got what, 1 week of build-up and the go home show before HIAC?

Not only what WWE needs to do, but TNA as well, is they need to cut some PPV's. Then you have way more time to build up feuds and characters. Not only that, but with it being a way more special event, people will be more likely to actually dish out the money to buy the PPV.

 

[bloewaters]

First and foremost I would like to go over the fact that 169,000 people ordered WWE's Night of Champions. This number is low for the WWE and the numbers are continuing to slip. However, the thing that is often overlooked is while the number may look low.... it translates to $8,450,000 and thats not counting the people who attended the show and what merch was sold at said show, and the DVDs of the show that will come out. this PPV will/hs made WWE at the least 11 million dollars.

This is the problem though. WWE needs more money then that.... I think? lately they have been cranking out two PPvs a month. if each PPV got the EXACT number of buys as NOC, the WWE would make FIVE HUNDRED AND TWENTY EIGHT MILLION DOLLARS. THATS OVER HALF A BILLION DOLLARS. Thats just on PPvs alone.

So yes, the buyrates are down. But does it mean that the WWE is in trouble???? NO. NOT AT ALL.


Now, How could WWE go about FIXING there PPVs?

Simple. One. PPV. Per. Month. Build feuds, stop rushing everything like we all have ADHD. Drop the freaking Gimmick PPVs. it's sucking the life and excitement and build up out of matches. Remember, before the themed PPVs started and there was a high profile feud. and whoever was in charge said "It's gonna be This guy vs This guy.......In.... HELL IN A CELL" and the crowd would go completely ape shit. not if there is a Hell in a cell match its at the goddamn PPV.

That's not saying that ALL of the themed PPVs need to go though.

Keep extreme rules under the guise that all the matches are GIMMICK matches.

Bring back the KOTR, its a themed ppv lol

keep NOC

get rid of TLC, HIAC, Elimination Chamber, because, for the love of god, those match types will be freaking dead if they dont.


Anyone else got a few ideas on how to get more buyrates for the company that's on a "down turn"

 

[HBKevin]

Well, YouTube has made it easier for people to watch the TV shows when and how they want, without stupid segments and commercials. And there are a lot of links to PPV streams too online. I used to order them or go to sports bars pretty often to watch the PPVs, but lately I have used streams. There are just so many lately. Like 3 PPVs in 6 weeks or something.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

I don't know if internet streams have anything to do with WWE's PPV buyrates, but I wouldn't doubt TNA's would be higher without them. The people who buy WWE PPV are going to keep buying WWE PPV. But nobody really wants to fork out cash for something that seems "amateur". Honestly, I don't think internet streams are hurting the WWE at all.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

What about the WWE targeting the younger audience and PG demographic? I remember an argument before that focusing on the younger demographic is actually detrimental to PPV buy rates.

Unlike the 18 to 30 group, most Kids would to ask their parents to buy the PPV for them. Let's face it an average parent isn't going to cough out $50 for 3 hour program especially when Cena can already be seen in free TV and you can probably rent the PPV on DVD or Blu Ray a few months later.

This is in contrast to an older group where they have their own income to order their own PPV. Of course the argument is that this older demographic also need to pay for their living expenses but I guess the purchasing power of a grown person w/ their own income is still greater than a kid who needs to convince his/her parents to order the PPV.

 

[Phoenix]

From the main site

For those keeping track of pay-per views buys for WWE, here are some new numbers for this year:

-WWE "Money In The Bank" drew 165,000 buys, down from the 267,000 buys the "Night Of Champions" PPV drew in the same month last year.

-WWE "SummerSlam" drew 350,000 buys, down slightly from the 369,000 buys the "SummerSlam" event drew last year.

-WWE "Night Of Champions" drew 165,000 buys, down slightly from the 169,000 buys the "Breaking Point" PPV drew last year.

“In the third quarter, our results reflected the Company’s continued focus on optimizing business results in a difficult environment,” stated Vince McMahon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We generated earnings growth despite a decline in revenue across many of our businesses. We believe our ongoing talent transition and the sluggish economy were important factors in these declines. Based on our history of developing talent and creating content with broad appeal, we are confident we can address these creative challenges. Further, by taking advantage of our strategic opportunities, we can achieve meaningful growth.”

I merged the two news segments about the buys and quarter financial report together.

While it's no surprise about PPV drops again, the thing that shocks me the most is how much of a drop that Night of Champions suffered, not only being a virtual 100,000 drop since last year but also being lower than Breaking Point which was considered a weaker PPV.

What are you feelings about the latest updates for PPVs?

Opinions, comments and views are all welcome here.

 

[Wade's Public Transit Bomb]

1) That "drop" for Summerslam, which is really only 19k, is like dropping from a .7 to a .5 in the ratings. Not bad considering the main show only focused Nexus vs Cena's Army on their show. Likewise, it was only 4k for the September show. PPV is a dying media for pro wrestling, but I'd be damn if PPV providers wished the other stuff they show had that kind of viewership at that price.

2) Know a lot of people on the internet love the high flying spotfests, but that will never have any real sustained wide appeal.

 

[MisterRob]

I was just reading an article on Lance Storm's website from earlier last month that actually gives a really interesting take on the question of this thread. I really think Storm's on to something too with his opinion. I think a great deal of the decreasing interest in buying PPVs and just the overall decreasing ratings and interest in wrestling is because of how it's changed, deep down inside the makeup of things. They certainly don't do angles like they use to, or build up to matches like they use to.

Storylines: The Death of PPV
October 5, 2010

It is no secret that pro-wrestling PPV buy rates are falling at an alarming rate. TNA’s buy rates on PPV are almost none existent and WWE’s, while doing considerably better than TNA’s, are nothing to brag about and are dropping also. Last I heard, bad TNA PPV’s were getting as low as 8000 buys and WWE buys have dipped as low as the 100,000 range domestically in recent months. There is a lot of discussion among industry insiders and analysts as to what is causing this drop and while everyone wants to point at, over exposure of the product, the economy, the same guys on top, inability to elevate new stars, along with a whole host of other reason I think the single biggest cause of the PPV decline is Storylines.

I’m not talking about bad Storylines or ineffective Storylines, I’m talking about the fact that this business no longer books Angles in order to sell matches on PPV, they write Storylines and then have matches on PPVs that are designed to further said Storyline. Now I realize that many people just view Storylines and Angles as different words describing the same thing but I think each term puts the creator in a different mind set and thus result in a different product. Let’s look at each case individually and you can tell me which should be more effective.

The way wrestling used to be promoted, Angles were booked on TV to create interest in a match that fans would then pay to see on PPV. The booker decided that (just as an example) Ricky Steamboat and Randy Savage for the IC Title will be a match at WrestleMania III. They then had to book an Angle that would put these two people on a path that would intersect at WrestleMania. This is key; an Angle is what’s created when two lines intersect, and that intersection point is the single most important point of the Angle. That point is a wrestling match and what you sell on PPV. They had Savage injure Steamboat and dominate the IC Title picture in Steamboats absence. Then Steamboat came back and vowed to not only win the title but get revenge for the beating he took at the hands of Savage months earlier. The WWF was not selling a Storyline here, they were selling a match, and the Angle was the means by which to make fans care about that match. The week before WrestleMania no one was thinking, “Where does the Savage - Steamboat Storyline go from here?” Everyone was thinking how great it’s going to be to finally see Ricky Steamboat kick Randy Savage’s ass. They were selling the match not the Storyline; it was the conflict that would be settled that night that was the be all and end all of this Angle. Fans needed to see WrestleMania III in order to see the Savage - Steamboat Angle come to a head. Fans needed to feel that this match was the conclusion of the Angle in order to make them willing to pay for it.

Fast forward now to Hell in a Cell this past Sunday, because it was the promotion of this show on The Score here in Canada that drove this point home for me. John Cena and Nexus are currently in a Storyline. They aren’t on a collision course; they have been in each other’s business for months in a weekly episodic Storyline. We are all but told each week to tune in and see how this Story unfolds. When I watched SmackDown this Friday there was a bit during the commercial break where they plugged RAW, by all but saying, “John Cena faces Wade Barrett Sunday at Hell in a Cell, tune in to RAW on Monday and see how this Story unfolds, will John Cena join Nexus or will Nexus disband.” This is where it all became crystal clear to me. They are no longer selling the matches, they are selling the Storylines, and even if they write great Storylines and I get into them, I don’t have to actually see the matches to keep up with the Storylines.

I wanted to know if John Cena would have to join Nexus, but I didn’t have to purchase the PPV to find that out, because the ongoing Storyline is continued on TV on Monday for free. The match they are trying to get me to pay for is not the focal point of all of this; it is just where the direction of the ongoing Storyline is determined. They are selling us on Storylines yet trying to get us to purchase matches.

Matches have become the tools used to get over and continue Storylines; they are the little pieces to the bigger ongoing Storylines. Why would we pay for the small pieces of the bigger picture we get on TV for Free? With Angles, the Match or pending conflict, the thing we are expected to pay for, is the big picture and the Angle, what we get on TV for Free, is the tool used to hype the match we are expected to buy on PPV.

I haven’t heard the Hell in a Cell buy rate yet, but the Monday night RAW rating just came in and it pulled a 3.3, which is way up from last week’s 2.7. That tells me that people were very into the Cena – Nexus Storyline, because people tuned in to find out where the Storyline would go next. If the buy rate for the PPV is not way up as well, that tells me that fans despite being into the Storyline did not care that much about the match itself.

If you want to draw money on PPV you need to book some Angles and sell fans on the Matches being important, not charge them for matches that simply help continue the Storylines.

That’s my 2 cents.
Lance Storm

 

[The Crock]

It's a combination of a lot of things, lack of interest, internet streams, and just plain not as many fans anymore. I know there are still some loyal fans who will watch every single PPV, but some people also can't afford to watch every PPV. In tough economic times 50 dollars aren't just that easy to find, and a lot of parents don't think that it is worth it to buy their kids the PPVs. Along with that, people have just lost interest as of late and the WWE and wrestling in general has lost a lot of fans. Internet streams are a huge problem too, they are pretty much taking money away from the WWE constantly. They can't be too happy about that.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

It's not any one single thing I don't believe as there's just too many factors to consider, all of which bear some legit weight to them.

I'd say that overall interest in buying ppvs might well be down because most ppvs just don't have that special feel about them anymore. I think it's at least possible that it might because the WWE puts out at least one ppv a month, but cutting the number of ppvs they put out each year is something of a risky venture financially. I've read lots of comments suggesting that the WWE only put out 6 ppvs a year. It would give the WWE more time to build up matches and feuds for the ppv, which could potentially make the shows themselves all that much more interesting to see. One reason why WM continues to feel big is that the WWE generally puts several months of overall prep and hype into building matches for the event, even while stuff for other ppvs is going on. However, if the WWE were to cut the number of ppvs roughly in half, the shows that they did probably have to draw in the neighborhood of at least 500,000 buyrates in order to generate the same amount of money they'd make with more ppvs now. There's simply no guarantee that would happen and if it didn't, then it'd mean millions in lost revenue even if the cost of putting on the shows was lowered. However, I do think the idea of reducing ppvs to some degree is something the WWE is eventually going to have to consider if the buyrates continue to slip.

I think another big problem, and this does sort of tie into the whole discussion regarding money, is that the price of the ppvs is a little steep. Your average WWE ppv would add an additional $45-$50 to your monthly cable or satellite bill. The economy has been in rough shape for a while and a lot of people simply don't have as much disposable income as they used to.

I do think that a general lack of interest to ppvs, as they don't feel particularly "special" most of the time combined with the steep price are at least two really legit factors that could be dragging the ppv buys down. Not that the shows aren't often of really good quality in my opinion, but sometimes it's just not enough.

 

[Dagger Dias]

The live streams of PPV events is part of the problem, but it is not the only issue behind low PPV buyrates. There are 12 months in a year, and there are 13 annual PPV events. If they dropped Bragging Rights or Hell in a Cell, they would have one show per month. There are too many PPV events in a year, which causes WWE to rush angles and matches, this leads to less than perfect matches on PPVs, which leads to fans losing interest in a rematch. Combine this problem with the issue of live streams, and you have your answer for why PPV buyrates are so low. Why buy a show when it doesn't seem interesting enough to convince you to spend another 40 to 50 bucks on it? Keeping the Big Four and Night of Champions would be the route I'd take. 5 shows a year would give WWE time to build up angles. Even during the days or brand exclusive shows, each brand had twice as long to build up some matches. That's the bigger issue. They need to make us care enough to buy PPV's. They haven't been doing as good of a job of that, and this issue would be there regardless of whether the live streams existed or not.

 

[LSN80]

I know streams are popular for some, and I have friends when we all can't get together and watch who do. Not my thing, but to each their own.

i think the problem has to do with a couple of things.

1. The economy- I know people moan that "its a product thing", but I see just as many people out at the sports bar watching the PPV's as ever. If the product was "so bad", why would they bother? When I have them at my house, the same number of people show up.

2. Oversaturation- WWE has been having PPv's within two weeks of each other. It's tough to get "excited" over something that should be special when it happens all the time. Hell, Im excited about Survivor Series, and its not because the build has been terribly great, but that its been 4 weeks between PPV's. It feels much more special then the 3 PPv's in 7 weeks/\.

3. Public Gatherings- More and more sports bars by the year are adding PPV's. Why spend 45 plus food when you can watch for free and eat? I have a friend who bought a sports bar with one of the bigger reasons being wanting to show PPV's. It just makes less sense to sit at home and pay when you can go somewhere and watch for free, especially with the price increase.