SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE released Third Quarter 2015 earnings (July through September) on Thursday. The following is a break down of WWE’s report and key business figures.
Quarterly Overview
WWE reported quarterly revenue of $166.2 million, up from $120.2 million in the same quarter in 2014. WWE attributed the revenue increase to increased TV Rights Revenue from their new TV deals kicking in, plus the ramp-up of WWE Network compared to this same point last year.
The big leap is captured by the Media Division drawing $114.9 million, compared to $76.9 million in Q3-2014.
WWE also generated nearly $5.0 million in additional Live Event revenue, which is attributable to the additional Summerslam weekend event – NXT: Brooklyn – and six total additional events in North America.
The overall result is WWE realized Net Income of $10.4 million, compared to a Net Loss of $5.9 million in Q3-2014 during the initial Network period when start-up costs exceeded revenue.
– Despite the positive overall signs, the stock marketed with a sell-off in pre-market trading on Thursday morning. This appears to be due to WWE Network subscriptions being sluggish from Q2 to Q3 despite the tentpole event, Summerslam.
Total paid subscribers at the end of Q3 was 1.233 million, compared to 1.156 million at the end of Q2.
Only five percent of the increase came from the domestic market, which is still below the 1.0 million mark at 990,000. The remaining increase came from the international ramp-up.
Also, the Network’s average paid subscribers was up and down compared to last quarter’s figures. (Full Network Break Down)
Official PPV Buys
WWE released official PPV buy totals for events in the quarter. Overall, the segment generated $4.5 million in revenue.
PPVs drew 278,000 buys for the three events, only down slightly from 294,000 comparable buys in Q3-2014. (More flashcard demonstrations to follow on TV!)
– Battleground drew 80,000 buys, compared to 99,000 in 2014 during the initial Network ramp-up.
– Summerslam drew 121,000 buys, compared to 147,000 in 2014 during the ramp-up.
– Night of Champions drew 77,000 buys, compared to 48,000 last year. This is likely due to the attraction of Sting challenging for the WWE Title.
Night of Champions buys were up because it was on free-to-air (Sky) TV in the UK 2014, but on pay-per-view in the UK in 2015. I mention this every single time there’s a financial report, but JC never takes it into consideration for some reason.
Interesting fact here: If WWE keeps up the growth rate, they’re going to set another record year of revenue AGAIN, bigger than the GDP of the Dominican Republic. http://www.smarkhenry.ph/2015/11/www-q3-2015-third-quarter-financials.html