Welcome to the first edition of The Wrestling Post for 2014. But before we dive into this year, there are a couple issues to follow up from 2013.
WWE shopping rights fees
Last month, Variety wrote an in-depth article on the WWE’s mission to seek out a rights fees deal for its product this year. Its existing deal with NBC Universal (the owners of the USA and SyFy Networks) is set to expire and WWE hopes to improve on its $139.5 million it receives in TV licensing fees and align itself with the deals from the NBA, NHL and NASCAR. Notably, NASCAR’s deal with NBC and Fox is worth $820 million a year. The NBA’s deal is not up for a year although it is prospecting this year for a new deal with Adam Silver taking over as Commissioner on February 1st.
The WWE has been waiting for this moment for some time having aligned all of its properties to be sold as a package. And while it sees itself as an “entertainment-based” company, it hopes that its rights fees are comparable to sports properties. The WWE’s contention is that its television shows, “RAW” on USA and “Smackdown” on SyFy are as attractive as sports properties that have been driven up due in part to the access to a target male demo and its “DVR-proof.” In addition to its male demos, 44% of fans are under 34 which appeal to advertisers.
According to the Variety article, negotiations and bids can take place until Feb. 15. At the time, NBCU can accept or reject WWE’s final offer with other bids by the 28th of February. The WWE will be selecting by March 4th.
Payout Take: Will the UFC be taking notes from the WWE? It may be too early to determine whether the UFC will command value when its deal is up with Fox but the WWE’s rights will be a unique acquisition. Coupled that with the upcoming WWE Network, we will see what 2014 will hold for the company. At the end of 2013, investors seem to think, that the company is going in the right direction.
Total Divas ends second half of first season
One of the surprises of 2013 was how well WWE’s Total Divas was received by audiences. The season finale on December 15th received an average viewership of 1.29 million viewers.
Episode 9: 1.25
Episode 10: 1.41
Episode 11: 0.92
Episode 12: 1.44
Episode 13: 1.20
Episode 14: 1.29
Payout Take: The second half of the first season came to an average of 1.25 million viewers. Total Divas will have a second season and its likely this will be an ongoing franchise for some time to come.
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