It’s official – WWE Network was announced tonight at a Consumer Electronics Show press conference in Las Vegas!
Launching next month on February 24th immediately following Monday Night Raw, WWE Network will be a subscription service with a price tag of $9.99 per month.
The first pay-per-view to air live on WWE Network will be WrestleMania 30 this April. In this article we run down the major details now revealed.
WWE Network is streaming based and acts both as a 24/7 “always on” linear network, in addition to an on-demand video library.
| 24/7 Linear Network |
All 12 WWE pay-per-event events through the year will air live on WWE Network (which includes WrestleMania at no additional charge).
Joining the PPVs will be lots of other content including the likes of a live daily studio show, live pre/post-shows for Raw and Smackdown, original/reality series’ (e.g. “Legends House” and “Monday Night War”), and traditional in-ring shows (e.g. NXT, Superstars).
| On-Demand Library |
Perhaps the area we were most interested in. WWE will be putting their vast video library (stated to be 100,000+ hours in total) to good use with the Network.
Every single WWE/WCW/ECW pay-per-view event in history will be available to stream on-demand from launch. There will exist an archive of selected classic Raw and Smackdown episodes too. It has been stated that more of this legacy content will added on a monthly basis. In tonight’s press conference one spokesperson was quoted as saying the “entire WWE Home Video library” will be available to watch on the service.
| Platforms |
For desktops/laptops WWE Network will be accessed via the WWE.com website.
On mobile devices it will be distributed via the WWE app through such platforms as iOS, Android, Kindle Fire, Xbox, PS3(4) and Roku.
It was also announced that the Network will later be available on Xbox One and Smart TVs.
| Overseas Launch |
As mentioned, WWE Network is to launch on Monday, February 24th and this date is for the domestic United States market. However, an overseas launch is “expected”, such as in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia by late 2014 to early 2015.
| Sneak Peek |
Several documentary style shows have been announced with sneak peek preview clips.
These include “WWE Countdown” slated to be a 1 hour show about topics ranked by viewer votes and discussion, such as top catchphrases, best entrances, greatest managers, and more. There’s also “WrestleMania Rewind” and “Monday Night War: Raw vs. Nitro”.
| DVDs & Blu-rays? |
Naturally, given the nature of tonight’s event, no announcements have been made about WWE DVD and Blu-ray plans moving forward – but we do know they are set to continue.
We speculate that while there is still a market for physical media WWE will continue to entice fans to buy the DVDs by offering exclusive content on them. For instance, if a Daniel Bryan documentary is being made in 2014 the company could sell it exclusively on DVD/Blu-ray, or at least for a certain time period, holding off a Network offering until a later date.
It would be great to hear your early reactions to WWE Network and thoughts on the future impact on WWE DVD releases, so be sure to leave a comment below!
All previous home video releases are available, and not just documentary portions?
For example, the bonus matches and features? How about compilations in which the feature presentation isn’t a documentary, but a compilation itself such as the annual Best of TV sets?
Really hope it doesnt fall through for the UK! I want it now 🙁
As bad as you want it, WWE want you to have it just as bad. As for for the Network to work they need maximum subscribers.
I wonder if I could stream this through my Blu ray player. I could get Netflix and Hulu through this as well.
Same here, am seriously considering trading or selling the majority of my PPV DVDs but keeping my documentary and comp-style DVDs and Blu-Rays.
“The entire WWE video library.” Minus Raw 03/05/2001, Over the Edge 1999 (rightfully so), and heavily edited.
What is so special about the Raw from March 5th 2001?
I’m all in for this. Can’t wait. The dreams of many wrestling fan have come true.
I CANT WAIT!!! i would buy this even if the PPVs were not part of the deal!
Not that excited about the WWE Network yet. My wrestling DVD collection stands nearly 11,000. I already have all WWF/E and WCW tv shows from 1985 onwards. Unless I can watch the network on TV and be able to upgrade my collection to HD quality the network is a big let down. We still don’t know if commentary will be edited like Jesse Ventura and Michael Buffer will be included.
Network has potential but as a hardcore fan I am not watching it online for hours and I will to convert everything I watch to hard copy
Well, for those of us that haven’t committed about 50 millennia worth of piracy, it’s a great announcement.
I have been waiting for this to become a reality for two years now, or whenever they first began talking about the idea of a network, just wish it could have been available over the cable TV and Satellite providers. But it is what it is and since it will be streaming I believe that is why it will be so affordable, have to think a monthly subscription on Dish Network or Warner Cable would cost a lot more than $9.99 monthly. I will be a day one subscriber and like everyone else on this site I hope there is no negative effect to future WWE DVDs. I have a collection of 238 WWE DVDS that I have purchased over the past 18 months and I really enjoy them very much and every month I look forward to that months releases and being a completest I do not have to wait very long, plenty of product available every month on DVD. This network will be great, I have desired access to their mega library for a long time and it seems we are getting very close to that. I have to think some drop off in WWE DVD and I too think this network is one reason we cannot find Blu-Ray releases in the States lately, (what a shame) but I hope we can still purchase the monthly PPVs and three discs DVDs sets and two discs Blu-Ray sets we look forward to every month. I just don’t see this having no effect on the future of WWE DVDS and Blu-Rays but I am looking at how much I will enjoy so much access to WWE’s library! Now, just hope my internet speed is up to the challenge since I had to suffer through some serious buffering just watching the press conference last night on WWE.com. Not a good sign!
You bring up a good point, tangentially. I just hope they have the servers to support this. The initial sign up will be MASSIVE. That’s going to be a WHOLE lot of bandwidth, especially during mania. And yeah, the last several years have proven that the market for digital content and physical content are different. Hell, the market for OWNING digital content and renting it are different. You can get Sony’s music unlimited for $10 a month and have access to almost everything you could think to look for (80-90% in my personal experience), but that doesn’t stop apple from making billions on itunes.
I’m still sticking with buying wwe dvds I just had wwe classics on demand which
i will miss but i was a proud subscriber to it thow lucky i get it till the end of the month
and i also got 2 new channels which is pretty good but i’ll still miss that channel that
was also good but I always love buying wwe dvds.
So the only way I’m going to be able watch this on my TV is if I have a PS3 or X-Box One? Am I correct? If so, looks like I won’t be subscribing.
Also Xbox 360, PS4 and Roku if you want to watch it on television. If you have an HDMI port on your laptop you can hook that up to your TV and watch it there.
Or your smartphone or your tablet etc. etc. Failing all else, you can get a roku for like $40. As to the announcement. Yeah, it’s pretty much the best announcement in the history of wrestling. I’ve wanted Raw season sets for about 15 years, and was aware it would probably never happen, but if they stick to it, every single tv episode will be available to watch. And of course it’s going to be edited, if nothing else for music (t.A.T.u., Rob Zombie, Limb Bizkit, etc.), but that’s just the nature of copyright law in America. Broadcast rights are different than home video rights. Look at, oh, every UFC DVD and a LOT of TV box sets older than the last 15 years or so. If the CONTENT is edited, however, that’s a different ballgame.
Totally agree on sets being on sale physically a while before they are put on the network, maybe for a month or two, they’d be mad to just add them straight away.
I got dish .. do I call to subscribe to the channel
Will it have every raw, smackdown, ecw and wcw full show/episode or will it just be a couple?
Seems to me they’ve only confirmed so far that it will have full WWE/WCW/ECW PPV events from launch.
I believe they mentioned television shows too. When Perkins Miller was doing the live demo and going over the past shows there was a brief glimpse of ECW Hardcore TV shows too. So its assumed all past shows such as RAW, SD, Prime Time, SNME, Superstars, etc are included at launch, if not will likely be added in the future.
Sure, I hear ya but I meant as far as complete archives go only PPVs were announced so far.
DVDs and Blu Rays are going away. I listened to a tech show a year ago and the dude was saying how everything is going digital/cloud
Wow dude, that MUST make it true!! Seriously…we haven’t even moved on from DVD yet, let alone blu-ray. Personally, I find the lack of control on behalf of the user when this move does happen to be upsetting. It would be controlled by a central authority that has the power to take away anything they want at any time, simply because there is no physical medium.
Excited about the network but sucks have to wait near end of the year to get it.
I remember it took about a year or so to get Netflix in Canada so not surprised we aren’t getting next month.
I can’t wait for Feb. 25. I’m going to sign up right away. The Network is going to be great. For $9.99 a month, you get a $55 PPV ($65 or higher for Mania), plus any other match or PPV you want. It’s going to be awesome. As for the end of DVDs, I don’t think that’s going to happen. If a DVD gets released, maybe a few months down the line, the documentary portion will be available on the Network, but not the whole thing. Also, stuff like Alternate Commentary won’t be on the Network. I just watched the For All Mankind DVD and I loved listening to Joey Styles & Mick Foley during Foley’s match with Shane Douglas. It was funny. You can’t get that on the Network. The match might be there, but it will only have the original commentary. So, for that reason alone, I think WWE will continue to release DVDs.
Totally agree I don’t think DVDs will die, I don’t know if I’ll buy anymore just straight PPV DVDs though. I think the documentary DVDs either superstar or company related (AWA, WCCW, ECW) will become even hotter sellers being able to watch the old PPVs and old matches is spectacular but having a behind the scenes look at a superstars career or like The True Story of WrestleMania that kind of stuff if it was left off the network would make for great DVD sales. I 100% agree with you alternate match commentary is great I was thinking when watching Tazz vs Bam Bam on the Rise and Fall of ECW DVD last night it was fun to hear Cole and Tazz give a behind the scenes kind of look at the match. I wish WWE did this more often it’d be even better if both wrestlers for some matches gave commentary like Bret and Shawn doing a commentary on one of their matches, or Malenko and Rey, Dusty and Flair ect. I love the Roundtable panels as well, from the 24/7 on demand channel and I hope they do more of them at some point on the WWE Network.
This just means the DVD department will have to give us even more unique content which is of course a good thing.
Even with all this content at my fingertips, I still want WWE to cultivate content into a physical product so I can buy it. I have a big collection and I love adding to it. No matter what you’re talking about, there will always be a demand for physical media. Just look at books, music, movies, or video games.
I still want The Best PPV Matches of 2013, The Best of RAW & SmackDown, WCW’s Greatest PPV Matches.
I want a John Cena set, or a set on The Best of Survivor Series Matches. I want the RAW: Best of Seasons set to return with a focus on 1997 & 1998.
I would pay money for all of this!
the only question i have is how will wwe’s servers be able to handle the massive load? then again, netflix seems to manage.
I was upset upon hearing about WWE Classics On Demand would be no more and figured nothing could top it. But after details about the WWE Network came out, I must say that I am really excited about the Network. Could be a serious game changer in the pro wrestling business. The detail that ALL programming would be in HD is an awesome selling point for me, along with all 12 PPV’s for the price they’re offering.
I don’t think this will effect DVD/Blu-ray at all. If a new DVD comes out in January 2014 they would probably hold off on airing it on the Network until late summer or even the next year. Who knows. I think if you’re a true fan of pro wrestling, not just WWE, this is an awesome deal.
And the WWE Network logo NEEDS to be the new logo in general. I love that logo. Can’t wait to see it on the turnbuckles eventually, lol.
Bryan, yes, all the Chris Benoit matches will air unedited with a disclaimer before each show/PPV that he was a part of airs on the WWE Network.
Will Benoit appear on DVD/Blu-ray now too?
There’s no way I’m going to get rid of my VHS or DVD video collection! I’m getting the network on Day 1 though. Why dump your entire video collection when you’ve spent countless hours and dollars/pounds on them? What if your internet is capped by your cable/satellite company? At least you’ll have a backup alternative. One huge question is one PPV they’ll offer if they say EVERY PPV in history is the infamous WWF Over the Edge 1999 where Owen Hart tragically died. I’m sure if it’s offered that his widow Martha would find a way to get it pulled. It has been on YouTube and DailyMotion over the past few years, and it’s definitely hard to watch, but it’s out there if you want to see it, and Owen Hart’s fall is NOT shown as a vignette was playing when he fell.
whoa I never even thought of that. Will have to keep tabs on that.
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.ca/2013/12/lets-play-predict-wwe-network-revenue.html
Per the link above, WWE home entertainment is a $28.9 million annual business for WWE.
It’s not going to kill home video, but it’ll certainly put a dent in it. That said, more than half of the WWE’s fanbase are in their mid-30s and older, and that group is far more likely to continue to have physical media (as well as cable/satellite, for that matter). Can’t ignore that group, especially with the greater disposable income right there. The Network is no doubt exciting with lots of possibilities, but it won’t eliminate their traditional businesses/distribution any time soon.
So my question is with every WCW and WWE PPV available to watch what happens to all the Chris Benoit matches? Are they all just removed completely or are they tweaked with the entrances and post match celebration and commentary edits? I myself would love to watch Backlash 2001 again to see the 30 minute submission match with Kurt Angle, or the 1999 Spring Stampede with the tag match with Malenko against Saturn and Raven.
They’re still showing Benoit, but before every show he’s on there will be a disclaimer.
WWE has just cannibalized their home video division. Those of us who missed out on the Raw 20th Anniversary set are feeling better this morning! I hope the advent of the Network will cause WWE DVD/Blu-Ray prices to drop like stones…
I think there will definitely be some knock-on effect to the home video department, but maybe not as great as we think. Most shows and matches have been widely available on YouTube and other sharing sites for years and years, but people continue to buy the DVDs regardless. I just don’t think that the home video collectors are going to change their outlook and jump ship.
Plus WWE 24/7 came out a decade ago. If anything the DVD’s got better from that point.
I wonder if the WWE Network’s “uncut And uncensored” is the same as their take on “Uncut And Unedited” RAW boxset that had a ton of edits.
But I think the content could legitimately be uncut/uncensored because they said content will be rated from TV-PG upto TV-MA. So hopefully we get ECW PPV’s without the bleeps as it originally aired.
While I am not going to invest in a WWE Network subscription (due to cost etc.) I hope it does deliver what it promises. I think it is a great expansion for the WWE, and their tape library. While I expect some problems to arise, it is at least promising that the Network is finally coming.
What cost? It’s 10 a month and you get the PPVs. If you buy one ppv a year, this is already a steal. Mania by itself is like 60 bucks.
Sorry if this has been said and I didn’t understand, I’m slow with technology. But would this be available to watch on TV somehow? I heard a lot about being able to watch it on your computer, phone, etc..
You could watch it on TV if you subscribe to it with your PS3.
I’m so stoked for this. But I have one legit question. For your first 6 months, for that price, do you get all the PPV’s in that 6 month span or do you just get Wrestlemania?
Every ppv from each month live and every WWE/F, ECW, and WCW ppv from 1985 to present day.
Somewhat takes the wind out of some crazy OOP Wrestlemania deals I got recently.Still, I wouldn’t dump all your stuff. BR/DVDs let you jump around where you want way more smoothly than streaming content, in that respect making the latter like HD VHS. Licensed music and certain other content edits will probably still be in place and lead to a less authentic experience than having the stuff that was released shortly after its original air date. Disc alternate commentary cuts could be amped up and preexisting extras on DVDs likely won’t be carried over. The monthly price might not stay at 10 dollars. And with physical media you won’t be depndent on if your computer/internet service is running poorly. Netflix is huge and wonderful, but movies and TV on disc still do well enough. Probably the same thing will happen here. I’ll get the network, but my collecting will remain the same.
I remember when Nintendo announced Virtual Console in 2005. I immediately went out and sold all my old games. That was a mistake since the service didn’t have everything I owned. Also note that Napster came out 15 years ago and yet Best Buy still sells CD’s. So we’ll see what happens but WWE is obviously gambling on this big time. The value is quite good compared to the price of PPV’s, and the complete library of WWE/WCW/ECW PPV’s is quite impressive. Personally, I’m worried about the impending end of physical media but I think we have a few years left before WWE starts putting less emphasis on it. I have a lost of all the stuff I want so hopefully it will be coming soon before that change occurs.
oops meant to say list not lost
The 6 month commitment I believe is so people don’t just subscribe to get wrestlemania for $9.99 then cancel. If they have everyone commit for 6 months that’s about the total price for wrestlemania. I honestly thought this network was going to be a waste but after hearing the details and that steal of a price, I’ll be subscribing day 1. I’ll still get dvds if they offer exclusive content not available on the network.
Totaly agree with you! $9.99 is an awesome price for Every ppv from 1985 to today plus live ppv’s each month for that price is a definant steal!
I hope they don,t get rid of the dvds and I don,t think they will until they think the network is a total success
Yes iam impressed with the network I had a feeling it was a streaming service since it was at an eletronics show. I am not really intrested in the programming expect for legends house and the in studio show once they have more orignal programming I might get it I curntelly have 367 vhs and dvds events of wcw/we/wwf/tna events dating from 85 so not now. I haven’t gotten alot of dvds for a couple years because of low funds but I get them from the library which is cool they
I am most excited for every PPV alone.. and WM30…. and i can just connect my laptop to tv so no worries…
definitely getting this
Love and “super stoked excited for the Network” but the real drag and bummer is that for the fact of outside the U.S. we still WON’T have it for awhile still which sucks royally I get it and understand and all but still while the U.S. starts to enjoy shortly we all gotta hang around cuz again we WON’T have it which again sucks royally!!!!. I so so wanna sign up for the Network now but guess not right away?? (hopefully they will move it up the launch earlier outside the U.S.??).
Anyways as far as dvd’s goes I still wanna be able to buy em but the extras that they have compared to the available blu rays now currently is still lacking but I take it as whatever not gonna put it but you really should then ok all right still gonna get the dvd’s only though. Hope this stuff you can find on Youtube??. Thanks WDN for updating on dvd’s, results, and etc.. everything in general for WWE really appreciate it.
So excited for this. My biggest issue is…I prefer watching wrestling and any other show on my television. I like being able to use my computer, while watching said program. I have a PS3, but was really unimpressed when streaming Netflix in the past, so I got a smart blu-ray player. Just a few hours ago, I thought the RAW 20th anniversary set was gold, now I feel its worth is much less. I might buy TLC 2013, so I can finish my collection for the year, but I’m really not sure I’ll buy another WWE DVD again. I had the thought of selling my collection, but I don’t know.
Easy access to the entire WWE library? …That’s THE dream!
My poor DVD recorder is going to be working overtime with this network. I’m probably gonna have to buy a second one just as a backup. I do wish the price of Blu-ray recorders were a little more reasonable.
As I’ve said previously with the fact that all the PPVs are all on the Network live and then on demand I could absolutely see the demise of the PPV DVD coming.
I agree with you, Mark.
I hate to say this, but I see WWE starting to put much less emphasis on DVD’s and Blu-rays in the future. Heck, it’s probably why they’ve been cutting back on Blu-rays here in the US. It makes sense now to keep releasing Blu-rays overseas since they won’t be getting the Network for about another year or so. Will this be the end of physical media from WWE? No. I don’t think so. Not any time soon. At least not as long as they’re still able to make money off of them. But I do see WWE shifting it’s priorities over to the Network now.
On the flip side I am so excited for this Network. They said n the press conference that every WWE, WCW and ECW PPV in their library will be available on day of launch. They also mentioned every Home Video in their library as well. That is huge. Not to mention getting all of the monthly PPV’s live for only $9.99 instead of $54.99.
I do wonder if WWE could end up taking a major hit financially from this. I would think at first they might. It’s going to be really hard to make up the lost revenue from PPVs on this. Especially WrestleMania which does about 650,000 domestic buys at $54.99. Not WWE’s cut of that $54.99, after splitting it with the cable and satellite companies, I believe is roughly half of that. In order to just break even they would need all 650,000 of those buyers plus an additional 650,000 subscribers every month. That’s 1.3 million subscribers needed to break even. Can they get that? We’ll see.
I read on another article that they were saying they need 800,000 subscribers to break even. I really see them breaking even with this. The really enthusiastic fans will grab it first while the more cautious ones wait and see what the reviews are. If nothing goes wrong with the launch and everything works the way the company says it will I think this could get to at least 1 million subscribers. I cannot wait to subscribe and honestly wish I could do get it now. This is a dream come true.
Rip plastic discs!
I like the idea and the price however, still questioning it a little bit since it says “$9.99 per month (plus tax) with a 6-month commitment”.. they don’t say if the price goes up after that 6-months or not.. regardless, it’s a hell of a deal IF you have a damn credit card 🙁
They will also accept PayPal.
I too have been curious the impact this will have on DVDs. Maybe it will be like Netflix and you can get the feature but none of the bonus material
That’s honestly the big thing for me. Although if they’re going to do episodes of Raw and Smackdown, which are usually where the bonus features stem from, it’s not such a big deal.
I just hope they offer it for the Apple TV. Other than that, this sounds great. Almost makes me want to trade in all my WWE DVDs since they’ll all be on the network!