WWE Conference Call

[haVoc 0]

WWE held an investor conference call today to discuss their second quarter financial numbers. Taking part in the call were Chief Executive Officer Linda McMahon and Chief Financial Officer Michael Sileck.

 

The call began with McMahon and Sileck reading prepared statements about the events of the quarter (Raw moving to USA, Smackdown moving to Friday nights, Wrestlemania tickets selling out), then a rundown of the financial numbers, which you can check out by

clicking here.

 

A Q&A was then held with investors.

 

Here are the highlights of the call:

 

- During her statement, Linda talked about the fact that they don't share in ad revenue from having Raw on USA Network, but they plan to work harder to drive up ad revenue from their website. That's an interesting statement, since USA Network isn't happy with WWE driving fans away from their advertisers during commercial breaks on Raw to watch WWE Unlimited.

 

- WWE is working on locking down theatrical release dates for "See No Evil" (starring Kane) and "The Marine (starring John Cena), and plan to start filming "The Condemned" in Spring of 2006.

 

- While WWE does not sell advertising for any of their U.S. television shows, Sileck stressed during his statement that the company will still be selling sponsorships for their shows and PPV events.

 

- Following up on Linda's statement about pushing website advertising, Sileck said that WWE would be investing "several million dollars" on Internet initiatives to make up for the lost television advertising revenue.

 

- Linda said that WWE will continue to release DVDs and videos in a "similar vein" to what they have been doing, but she didn't have a list of upcoming releases.

 

- The third quarter this year will show an increase in international business (as opposed to the second quarter last year) because the European tour was later this year.

 

- Linda credited the "star power" of John Cena and Batista for helping live event business in this quarter.

 

- Linda was asked if WWE was getting a "new fanbase" or younger fans since the move to USA. Linda said they are seeing younger fans, and that their ratings trend is "holding steady". Linda said she doesn't see them getting a 4.7 rating for Raw regularly, but she expects the ratings to stay in the "high 3's and low 4's" for the rest of this season.

 

- The plans are still in place for late-night specials on NBC.

 

- WWE is waiting to see how "See No Evil" and "The Marine" do before making any decisions regarding adding more movies to their WWE Films schedule. Linda said they are also looking into made-for-TV movies, but didn't give any details other than that they would have a lower budget ($5 million vs. $20 million for theatrical).

 

- Linda said they are just at the "tip of the iceberg" when it comes to utilizing their tape library with home video releases, and they have other tape libraries they are looking to acquire.

 

- They talked about the success of putting shows on the Internet, bragging about the high number of video streams. Linda said that now that the shows (Heat, Velocity) are established on the Internet, they will be selling advertising and sponsorships for them.

 

- WWE has made 2.4 million in this quarter ($4 million total for the first half of the year) on "digital revenue" streams (website advertising). Linda said that she believes that within three years, the digital revenue will replace the lost television advertising revenue.

 

- Linda said that WWE giving out a bigger dividend was a good way to have their investors share in the financial success of WWE, as opposed to a stock buyback or any other options. Linda and Sileck said that they had "scrutinized" over the various options before deciding on the bigger dividend.

 

The entire conference call lasted about 45 minutes, with no references or mentions of Eddie Guerrero, Nick Dinsmore, WWE announcing a new drug testing policy on their website, Jim Ross being removed as Raw announcer, Batista's injury, or Steve Austin's disappearance from Raw storylines right before he was scheduled for his Pay-per-view return.

 

Credit: PWInsider.com

 

 

Also from PWI

 

The next WWE DVD devoted to Extreme Championship Wrestling will be released on 2/6/06 and will be titled "Bloodsport: ECW's Most Violent Matches." The DVD, which will retail at $29.99, will be hosted by Paul Heyman and is slated to feature Terry Funk vs. Sabu in a no ropes barbed wire match. WWE will also be releasing a collection of their 2005 PPVs titled "2005 Rewind" for $199.95.

[Guest Fook_Theta]

- The plans are still in place for late-night specials on NBC.

 

 

Thanks for posting this, I've been wondering where all the talk of those specials went to.

[Masked Man of Mystery 0]

I remember they did a best of the year DVD a few years back or something like it, I'd much prefer that to a boxed set

[iliketurtles 0]

They need to keep at least one of the NBC specials for Wrestlemania time. And I hope they make it live.

[Karc 0]

The things they said about the internet worry me. It seems that WWE now has a very real financial reason for pissing off and working the internet, in order to get people to see their website ads. That's the only conclusion I can come up with.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

It's been interesting, if not different, for the fans, though. And that's a good thing. Still, it feels kind of dirty that WWE has postings of drug overdoses (Eugene) and Flair's vehicular attack and is egging on users to "Check Back Soon!" in order to promote the site.

[UZI Suicide 0]

- WWE is working on locking down theatrical release dates for "See No Evil" (starring Kane) and "The Marine (starring John Cena), and plan to start filming "The Condemned" in Spring of 2006.

 

 

Haha. Kane and John Cena movies from WWE Films being released in Theaters? That'll be the day.

[Placebo Effect 0]

- WWE is working on locking down theatrical release dates for "See No Evil" (starring Kane) and "The Marine (starring John Cena), and plan to start filming "The Condemned" in Spring of 2006.

 

 

Haha. Kane and John Cena movies from WWE Films being released in Theaters? That'll be the day.

 

Well, Lions Gate has picked up theatrical distribution rights and all but confirmed May for Kane's movie to open up, so I guess that day is coming.

[pochorenella 0]

It's not mentioned on the original post but Linda McMahon reported DVD sales for the Undertaker's set in the 150,000 range. That's one of the best sales number for non-PPV releases since the ECW set. Wonder how Warrior's did, since it was #1 in Billboard for quite some time. Ditto for how Bret's DVD will do.

[CBright7831 0]

I've been interested inwhat Bret's DVD set has sold. Good to see Taker's set selling well. When Taker wants to work good matches, he can. I wonder what the highest selling DVD of all time is now. I know it used to be:

 

1. Wrestlemania XX

2. The Rise and Fall of ECW

3. The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection

Edited December 2, 2005 by CBright7831

[Guest Duke_The_Dog]

World Wrestling profit soars

By William Spain, Markethingych

 

CHICAGO (MarkethWatch) -- Higher sales of merchandise helped World Wrestling Entertainment offset a slump in television and live-event revenues and nearly triple its fiscal second quarter profit - and the company bumped up its full year outlook to boot.

 

Before the start of trading Thursday, World Wrestling said that it earned $11.7 million, or 17 cents a share, on the period, up from $4.4 million, or 6 cents a share in the year-ago quarter.

 

Revenue for the three months ended Oct. 28 came in at $88.9 million, up from $83.9 million. Televised and live entertainment sales fell to $60 million from $66.8 million, but the take from branded merchandise, including home video, rose to $28.9 million from $17.1 million.

 

The average estimates of analysts polled by Thomson First Call had been for World Wrestling to earn 7 cents a share on sales of $82 million.

 

After ending the Wednesday session up 2.5% at $13.51, shares of WWE tacked on as much as 7% in Thursday morning action.

 

Based on the results, which the company said exceeded its own targets, World Wrestling said it expects fiscal 2006 revenue in the $370 million to $385 million range with income from continuing operations of $35 million to $40 million, or 50 cents to 55 cents a share.

 

That compares to Wall Street views of revenue of $371.4 million and earnings of 52 cents a share.

 

World Wrestling also said it plans to produce 16 pay-per-view events in fiscal 2006, two more than the previous year.

[Guest Coffey]

World Wrestling also said it plans to produce 16 pay-per-view events in fiscal 2006, two more than the previous year.

The shit is getting out of hand now.

[Dangerous A 0]

Here is something I found interesting from the Observer site regarding yesterday's quarterly meeting....

 

The biggest news is that they have doubled the quarterly dividend. Even though profit was $11.7 million (and that includes $3 million in a few favorable out of court settlements including Marvel and from a former VP accused of malfeasance) the dividend going out was $16.8. For those keeping track, McMahon is now getting $47 million per year in stock dividends while John Laurinaitis cries financial poverty to the wrestlers in negotiations.

 

 

If I were still doing the Danger Zone, I'd say that's interesting, to say the least.