GreatWhiteNope 0 Report post Posted June 30, 2005 http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.asp?id=11312&p=1 MCMAHON COMMENTS ON WWE'S PLAN IF CENA BECOMES A STAR, THE FUTURE OF SMACKDOWN, AND IS TAKEN TO TASK FOR NOT SHARING THE WEALTH WITH SHAREHOLDERS by Buck Woodward @ 12:15:00 PM on 6/30/2005 WWE held an investor conference call this morning to discuss their fourth quarter financial results, which were released today (and you can see here). Participating in the call were WWE CEO Linda McMahon, Chief Financial Officer Michael Sileck and Senior Vice President of Finance Frank Serpe. After prepared statements were read and the financial numbers were reviewed, questions from investors were taken. Here is a recap of the Q&A portion of the conference call. - Raw will return to the USA Network on October 3rd, and Smackdown will have their first Friday night episode on UPN on September 9th. - When it comes to WWE Films, Linda said that FOX and Lion's Gate Films are pleased with See No Evil and The Marine at this point. Linda put over John Cena's potential as a "breakout action star". See No Evil is set to come out in January of 2006, but The Marine doesn't have a planned release date yet. The next planned film project is The Condemned, starring Steve Austin. Linda said they were "confident" about how the division is coming along. - On the topic of WWE 24/7, they are rolling out into more systems, with Cox Cable being the largest at this point. Linda said their ability to offer the service is dependent on more cable systems offering Video-On-Demand channels to their customers. She said that they are happy with the growing number of subscribers in the systems where WWE 24/7 is already available. - They were asked if ratings increases lead to PPV buyrate increases, and Linda said that while there have been "breakout PPV events", usually ratings increases do lead to PPV buys going up. - Concerning the possibility of John Cena leaving WWE if he becomes a "breakout star", Linda McMahon noted that Cena is under a long-term contract, both as a wrestler and an actor, and they hope he becomes a huge star in movies and music (In other words, they have learned from what happened with The Rock). Linda said they have "preferential movie deals" with Cena and Steve Austin. - When asked about the future of Smackdown, Linda said that you can't tell what UPN's "appetite for WWE" will be in September of 2006 when their contract is up. Linda said that the move to Friday night is an "opportunity" for them to prove their value to UPN by bringing a younger audience to the channel on Friday nights, and helping UPN to grow their audience share on that night. She said that if UPN decided not to renew them, they had other options "including other networks and cable". - Regarding the "Legends" division, it was discussed how WWE will be presenting a line of merchandise, DVDs, and other products with Superstar Graham, Roddy Piper and Jerry Lawler helping to push the division. Linda said the initial rollout will be domestic, then they will work on expanding it internationally. - Linda heavily put over the move to USA Network, saying that USA will be "rebranding" their network at the same time WWE returns, and WWE will be a part of their marketing push. - WWE will have fewer live shows in the U.S. in 2006 due to the increased international tours. - When pressed about the change in nights for Smackdown, Linda said that it was a UPN decision, not a WWE move. She then reiterated her comments about the Friday night move being an opportunity to increase UPN's audience on Friday nights, saying the WWE audience "will find us". Linda admitted there were going to be some preemptions in major markets in the first two months of their Friday night run (baseball games), but also claimed that there were new advertisers for them on Friday's, due to the lack of programs for a young audience on Friday on other channels. - One investor asked why WWE was using their substantial cash to make movies rather than offering a "stock buyback". Linda claimed that analysts had advised her not to offer a stock buyback, and the caller said he would like to know who those analysts are, since he questioned their "sanity". The caller noted the amount of cash "the family" (McMahons) had pulled from the company, and asked if they would be buying back some of the stock (to show potential investors that they have confidence in the WWE stock growing). Linda never really answered him, and appeared to get flustered by his questions. - There will be no revenue from WWE Films until 2007. - Regarding the ECW One Night Stand PPV, Linda said there was a lot of "positive feedback" on the event, and referred to the DVD as having a "turbo release" to get it into stores. - There was another question about WWE's cash reserves, with this caller asking why WWE insists on holding the large amount of cash rather than giving dividends to the shareholders (of which the McMahons would still benefit, since they are the largest shareholders). Linda said that they hold the cash for potential investments, and they keep it to be able to pay a 12-cent dividend to the shareholders in case operating income is insufficient. Michael Sileck said it was "premature" to give the stockholders the money at this time, and that shareholders need to be "patient". The call became heated, as the caller came right out and said he was "insulted" by the insinuation that they were not being patient, pointing out that he (as an investor) has been with the company for four years (longer than Sileck, who just joined), and gone through the failures of the XFL and the restaurant in New York City. He said that WWE is now investing in three movies, and still maintaining their cash reserves, yet are not offering dividends, buybacks or other options for stockholders to share in the wealth. The caller was quickly cut off after reiterating how insulted he was by WWE's lack of answers. - Linda was asked again about the ECW PPV. She was asked if it did 500,000 buys. She said that wasn't true and she didn't know where the caller got that number. She also added that she didn't have the preliminary numbers for the buyrate in at this time. She said the general consensus in WWE right now is to have "one off" PPV events with the ECW brand, and that some ECW talent will be brought into WWE. - There are no plans to put the Raw and Smackdown brands back together. - The call was abruptly ended as we were told there would be no more live questions and if people had any, they could submit them to a WWE rep. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Carnival 0 Report post Posted June 30, 2005 I should have called in and asked why I haven't got my 12 cent check this quarter. And I guess ECW didnt' get the amazing buyrate people thought. that sucks. still 200,000 would out draw most WWE PPV's recently. Linda got pwned by the dude pissed about dividends. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest jumpingbombangel Report post Posted June 30, 2005 http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.asp?id=11312&p=1 - There was another question about WWE's cash reserves, with this caller asking why WWE insists on holding the large amount of cash rather than giving dividends to the shareholders (of which the McMahons would still benefit, since they are the largest shareholders). Linda said that they hold the cash for potential investments, and they keep it to be able to pay a 12-cent dividend to the shareholders in case operating income is insufficient. Michael Sileck said it was "premature" to give the stockholders the money at this time, and that shareholders need to be "patient". The call became heated, as the caller came right out and said he was "insulted" by the insinuation that they were not being patient, pointing out that he (as an investor) has been with the company for four years (longer than Sileck, who just joined), and gone through the failures of the XFL and the restaurant in New York City. He said that WWE is now investing in three movies, and still maintaining their cash reserves, yet are not offering dividends, buybacks or other options for stockholders to share in the wealth. The caller was quickly cut off after reiterating how insulted he was by WWE's lack of answers. - The call was abruptly ended as we were told there would be no more live questions and if people had any, they could submit them to a WWE rep. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That knocked the bottom out of hell. That first caller brought up some king-sized issues they weren't prepared for, and then this guy buried them. Interesting at how the number for the ECW PPV is 300,000. They really ought to be focusing on how to harness that energy instead of (heh) making movies. I cringe at the thought of WWE Films, because in one way or another they're all going to end up comedies. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jobber of the Week 0 Report post Posted June 30, 2005 You know, it would probably save a lot of money if they simply acted as film agents for the wrestlers instead of buying entire movies to act as vehicles for the wrestlers. There's a lot of projects out there that call for a good looking bimbo or a large imposing dude, and the company has those in spades. Instead, they're paying out the nose to make crapola Santa With Muscles style films for the likes of Kane, who is pretty good at the sinister villain role on Raw but doesn't equal box office draw. They should accept that most their guys don't have the chops to be anywhere near the starring role. The only guy in the company that I could see in the lead role of a movie would be a comedy starring Big Show. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jingus 0 Report post Posted June 30, 2005 Man, reading these conference call transcripts is ALWAYS good for a laugh. Sometimes the WWE seems to have no idea how to deal with the stockholders who quite literally own them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Robfather 0 Report post Posted June 30, 2005 God bless those shareholders. Linda got owned! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JoeDirt 0 Report post Posted June 30, 2005 Where did it say the ECW PPV did 300,000? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dips 0 Report post Posted June 30, 2005 It says it over at PWInsider in the one of the articles but it's never said on the Conference Call. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jericholic82 0 Report post Posted July 1, 2005 You think all that is bad, did you read the press relase on RAW getting its biggest rating or somethin since 9-10-01. It mentioned some reasons for that including "exciting reality contests like the raw diva search". Yep thats right, RAW had abig rating cuz of the diva search. Anyone else finding it funny that the RAW rating goes up whenever Trips is not there? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
