By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

WWE Network Conference Call Report

Monday afternoon following WrestleMania 31, WWE CEO Vince McMahon and financial executive George Barrios hosted a special conference call with investors discussing the Network subscriber count, WrestleMania 31, new Network programming, and short-term and long-term prospects for the Network.

The following are highlights from the conference call.

- (Free April): Management announced that April will be free to new Network subscribers. This follows the free promotions in November and February that WWE says helped drive the Network count to 1.3 million subscribers as of WrestleMania 31.

- (Sting): Sting's debut in WWE was a topic of conversation. A caller asked McMahon if they looked at strong DVD sales for Sting (and WCW-related products) and decided to bring in Sting to capitalize on nostalgia. McMahon said they brought in Sting not just because of the interest they saw in video sales, but because Sting became available and they wanted to "take someone from obscurity, develop a character, and make it important." McMahon said WWE has the skills to take a character like Sting and put him in a WrestleMania main event.

- (Creative): McMahon addressed the topic of many people believing the WrestleMania build-up was below-standard, but Mania delivered on Sunday. McMahon acknowledged that many times their consumers have "doubts" and "opinions" about programming, wondering how WWE is going to pull things off.

McMahon said they felt like it was going to be an excellent PPV ahead of time, while also acknowledging that the Mania push this year was "a last-minute drive." He added that some things that occurred at WM31 will lead into next year's WrestleMania.

- (Network Pricing): Barrios said WWE management feels good about keeping the $9.99 price point in-place for the Network. They like the simplicity of the price and advertising, but might think about changes, such as tiered price points, in the future. But, they are happy after finding a subscription model that works for them.

- (PPV): Asked about continuing partnerships with PPV broadcasters despite introducing the Network, both McMahon and Barrios stressed their deals in international markets. McMahon added that he is not in favor "cord-cutting" by consumers, as broadcast partners USA Network and Syfy are "extremely important" platforms for WWE programming. McMahon said they are flexible in their approach to building the Network, but he said they want to continue using Raw and Smackdown on USA and Syfy, respectively, to drive subscriptions.

Earlier, though, there was an interesting comment that WWE's long-term goal is to make the Network the focal point of how they reach viewers. This was not stated by management, but the way it was presented would be analogous to WWF/E introducing Monday Night Raw in the early 1990s when weekend programming was still their dominant platform. Then, weekend programming faded to the background in favor of Raw being the focal point of their TV business.

- (Original Programming): McMahon noted that the original Network programming announced during WrestleMania is generally geared toward the males 18-34 demographic. However, they are planning shows with broader appeal for younger and older audiences. The goal of targeting m18-34 is to reduce the number of people who unsubscribe from the Network by targeting a specific portion of the audience.

Long-term, Barrios said WWE is comfortable with adding eight new series in 2015. Then, see if that's a good annual number over time as they learn more about the right Network programming mix. He added that it's easier to bring celebrities on-board to build shows around their personalities now that they've seen what the Network is about.

Overall, the goal is to have the original programming help fill gaps in the seasonal nature of WWE's programming, such as having new content after WrestleMania or another big event like Summerslam. WWE hopes the result is reducing unsubscriptions and creating subscriber growth over time trying to reach their long-term goal of 3-4 million subscribers.

- (Syndication): Barrios said WWE is open to syndicating Network content on Netflix, Amazon, or other video on-demand programmers. However, WWE is focused on protecting the video on-demand library aspect of the Network built into the $9.99 monthly price tag. In the meantime, Barrios said WWE feels like they can effectively promote their content and raise awareness for the Network through existing platforms on Facebook and YouTube.

- (Tapout): Barrios noted WWE management regularly talks about deals similar to the joint venture with Tapout that will create revenue putting Tapout gear on WWE television. However, Barrios played it close to the vest on internal discussions, saying he did not want to make any news on the conference call.

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