WWE Conference Call Notes: Talent Development, WWE Network, Female Talent, More
WWE held their Q3 conference call today for investors, as covered by Brandon Howard of Fightful.com. Below are his notes on the call, and he'll have several stories coming out of it.
WWE's investor presentation https://t.co/7IEAgt3RV1
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Vince is speaking, going over this slide #WWEQ3 pic.twitter.com/3v8tXtRKHh
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Vince putting over int'l signings. Needs Paul Levesque to help him remember Kavita Devi's name. Paul doesn't try to pronounce Shadia Bseiso.
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
CFO George Barrios now going over finances #wweq3 pic.twitter.com/AjhN2njERO
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Paul Levesque has never spoken on a call since I've been listening. Possible he's often in the room but has just never participated.
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Chief Marketing Officer Michelle Wilson now going over this slide #wweq3 pic.twitter.com/8at1iPIgss
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Jinder Mahal featured in this slide looking at what WWE expects for Q4 and full year 2017 #wweq3 pic.twitter.com/HgcYErXbyl
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
It's a new year, yes it is #wweq3 pic.twitter.com/i6R54Ntt1q
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Interesting slide visualizing WWE's upcoming TV rights negotiations, the company's biggest source of revenue. #wweq3 pic.twitter.com/vbKhMFj9s8
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Q&A starting. BTIG asks if WWE is considering breaking up TV and digital rights in new TV deals. Barrios gives a non-answer. #wweq3
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Barrios noted it's a "fairly small cohort" of networks interested in WWE. #wweq3
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Any part of business that could decline next year? GB says "secularly", Home entertainment could (probably will) continue to decline. #wweq3
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Barrios puts over how well Supercard did in the Licensing segment. #wweq3
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Wilson says "we've gone from 100 to almost 200 advertisers", I think in reference to USA Network advertisers. #wweq3
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
As the call is underway, the stock is calming back down, still up 8% on the day #wweq3 pic.twitter.com/wYbEuKE3hc
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Barrios: "We think bundles will exist. There may be different bundlers, but we think bundles will exist." #wweq3
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Barrios says nobody likes to see TV ratings go down, but "we're a powerful aggregator of eyeballs" #wweq3
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Barrios reminds an analyst "WWE Network is not a general entertainment network competing with other general entertainment networks." #wweq3
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Barrios says 2 years from now, WWE Network will "probably" have multiple tiers in it, and will be in at least 1 additional language. #wweq3
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Analyst wanted to know about UK brand, but that was skipped over. #wweq3
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Barrios says the world has changed dramatically since the last TV rights negotiation (2013-2014) #wweq3
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Barrios says they expect WWE Network subs to "keep growing" next year. #wweq3
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Wilson says it's "early days' for WWE Network in China. "Too early to tell". "Our partners have been pleased". #wweq3
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
How can we get analogs for "fair value" est on RAW/SD? Barrios doesn't name any analogs. "Ultimate metric is time." #wweq3
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Analyst Laura Martin questions Vince on international business. "Could we be doing this 15 years ago?" re: signing int'l talent, etc. #wweq3
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Barrios answers instead of Vince. Says content consumption and company has changed. WWE has "muscles" it didn't have before. #wweq3
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Barrios says they see the same kind of "traction" for female performers as male performers, across their data. #wweq3
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Barrios "we're about half way to 3 million" WWE Network subs, referring to the original sub goal for the Network. #wweq3
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Barrios says "10 years from now" talent development will be "all over the world" #wweq3
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Wilson says 35% of WWE roster is female, "that number has grown over the past couple of years". #wweq3
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
Barrios talks about Cloud9 investment, mentions they make investments that are "strategically important". #wweq3
— Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) October 26, 2017
