SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The latest in our series reviewing information from WWE’s annual shareholders meeting announcement …
– Over the past year, WWE has alternated between acknowledging TV ratings struggles and downplaying TV ratings as part of a “broader ecosystem” of content consumption.
At the end of the day, TV ratings still matter because they are tied to WWE executives’s annual pay. WWE’s SEC filing also pointed to why WWE heavily focuses on social media reach – because that is also tied to executive compensation pay.
WWE’s Compensation Committee works off the following scorecard to determine incentive pay:
- 40 percent: Grow WWE Network
- Key metrics: WWE Network subscribers, subscriber satisfaction
- 40 percent: Drive International Growth
- 10 percent: Brand Strength
- Key metrics: Certain Television Ratings and Social Media metrics
- 10 percent: Business Development
- Key metrics: Revenue & plans for new product initiatives
Factoring the weights and performance, WWE management was given a 7.2 out of 10 score in 2015.
How this translates to compensation is that a 5.0 score is the target for 100 percent funding of executive incentive pay. Achieving a 7.2 score translated to 144 percent funding.
This was an improvement on 5.0 in 2013 and 6.0 in 2014. As a result, the amount of executive incentive awards jumped significantly in 2015, especially for key executives Kevin Dunn, George Barrios, and Michelle Wilson.
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