News & Highlights From WWE's Third Quarter

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

News & Highlights From WWE's Third Quarter Conference Call

 

The Rock's return,

 

WWE had their regular conference call today to discuss third quarter results. CFO Phil Livingston and CEO Linda McMahon handled the comments and questions. Below are the highlights:

 

- Linda McMahon pushed WWE's new deal with UPN for Smackdown and the recent "Smackdown in Iraq" show.

 

- Linda said that the "Escape The Rules" and "Smack Your TV" marketing campaigns are the latest way for WWE to seperate the brands. She added that 70% of the fans only watch RAW or Smackdown, not both. Thus they are looking for ways to cross promote the brands.

 

- Linda said that the WWE Originals CD has sold 142,500 copies thus far and that the total is more than they expected to sell. She also added that WWE will be releasing more DVDs that take advantage of their tape library, much like the Ric Flair DVD.

 

- Linda said that live event business is soft and that the company needs to work on improving it.

 

- Phil Livingston went over the financial numbers and said that revenue was down mainly because the third quarter of 2003 only had two PPVs while last year the quarter had three.

 

- When asked about the Rock working WrestleMania, Linda said to stay tuned for news on "guest celebrities" and did not mention the Rock's name.

 

- Linda said ratings are now stable and PPV buyrates are increasing.

 

- When asked if high ticket prices are the reason for the decline in the live event sector, Linda said that they lowered ticket prices this year but have not seen any increase. She said that attendance for PPVs has improved and that RAW and Smackdown attendance will improve before live event attendance does.

 

- Linda said that WWE is focusing on "internal business" right now but always keeps its eyes open to other opportunities.

 

Credit: PWInsider.com

[Guest hunger4unger]

It's good to see the company is still making huge profits. It's kinda strange that Linda didn't confirm The Rock for Mania.

[Guest JumpinJackFlash]

Or the fact sh'e calling him a "guest celebrity."

[Guest hunger4unger]

Do you think that she was trying to paint the picture that The Rock isn't needed and that WWE is just fine without him by refering to him as a 'guest celebrity' ?

[Guest JumpinJackFlash]

Yeah, probably. They don't need the Rock. The card looks good enough as it is. Well, maybe if Bret's there, The Rock won't be needed.

[Guest Quik]

You mean she didn't take calls? Damn, I wanted to hear her response to questions of why HBK is able to con himself into a WM main event, despite them showing some amount of sense to put the belt on Eddie Guerrerro.