WWE Network & Financials Q3 Update: Network subscribers increase over same period last year in U.S. and International, attendance and other key metrics reported

WWE announced their Third Quarter 2017 financial information today. They touted that their subscriber base increased, compared to the same quarter last year, to 1.578 million compared to 1.478 million last year. Paid subscribers in the U.S. as of Sept. 30 2017 was 1.106 million, up from 1.071 on Sept. 3, 2016. There was also an increase in international subscribers, 401,000 this year compared 373,000 a year ago. Paid subscribers went from 1.51 million total, up from 1.44 million last year as of Sept. 30 each year.

Average paid subscribes in 2017 Q3 was 1.52 million compared to 1.46 million last year. Year-to-date average through Sept. 30, 2017 was 1.55 compared to 1.42 million through Sept. 30, 2016.

Overall, Q3 revenue was $186.4 million this year, up from $164.2 million last year. Through nine months, revenue totaled $589.4 million, up from $534.3 million last year. Operating income through nine months was $48.6 million, up from $41.8 million. Adjusted OIBDA was $77.1 million, up from $59.6 million.

“We are pleased with our continued success in growing and engaging a large, global audience across multiple platforms. The increased production of original content, our focus on localization and the further development of a diverse talent base contributed to that important achievement, reinforcing the significant scale and power of our brands,” stated Vince McMahon, WWE Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Digging deeper than the press release, WWE Network Revenue for the first nine months of the year was $151.7 million, up from $137.2 million in the first nine months last year.

Television revenue was $194.9 million, up from $173.1 million in the first nine months last year. Total revenue from all sources was $589.4 million, up from $534.3 million in the first nine months last year.

Digital Media, Live Events, and WWE Shop were all by more than a million dollars. Home Entertainment was down just over one million. Venue Merchandise sales and Licensing were flat through nine months.

Live Events revenue is up 10 percent due to adding 42 live events to the schedule compared to 2016 through nine months, but attendance was actually down 8 percent. In Q3, average attendance in North America was 4,900 compared to 6,800 outside of North America. WWE ran 96 events in Q3 overall (not counting the NXT brand). That was up from 82 in Q3 last year.

By region, Asia Pacific revenue was $47.3 million, up from $41.3 million; Latin America was $8.0 million, up from $6.2 million; Europe/Middle East/Africa was $87.8 million, up from $41.3 million; and North America was $446.3 million, up from $398.3 million.

They also touted 20 new advertisers for their programs in the 2017-’18 front, adding 70 over the past three years, and reaching a total of nearly 220 advertisers for WWE shows.