The service relied on technology developed by MLB Advanced Media and BAMTech, prior to Endeavor Streaming assuming technical operations of the service in 2019. Although operating primarily as a standalone service, the distribution model of the WWE Network varies by market, where it can be available as an integrated service through licensing agreements with third party providers, depending on the markets. The standalone service contains a premium and a free tier.
WWE Network launched on February 24, 2014 in the United States, as a digital successor to the WWE Classics on Demand service. It launched in Canada in July of that year and expanded to the Asia–Pacific region and select European countries in August. The United Kingdom received the service in February 2015, and was made available in the Middle East and parts of Africa that March, and to India in November. It was launched in additional European and Asian countries in January 2016. Upon launch, the WWE Network was met with positive reception of its content library, but was criticized for technical problems. The service had 1.5 million subscribers by October 30, 2020.
Beginning in 2021, WWE began to phase out WWE Network as a standalone service in some markets, transitioning its content library to domestic streaming services owned by local rightsholders (such as Peacock in the United States, Binge in Australia, and Disney+ in some Asian markets). In 2024, WWE announced a 10-year rights deal with Netflix, which includes international rights for all WWE weekly shows, Premium Live Events, original series, and forthcoming projects from 2025. As a result, WWE Network will cease standalone operations in the vast majority of its remaining countries as of January 1, 2025. It will remain active for an indeterminate period of time in a small number of countries where Netflix's contract will not take effect immediately due to pre-existing contracts.
History
Development and U.S. launch
The origins of the WWE Network can trace back to 2000 when USA Network filed a lawsuit against the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, known as WWE since 2002) due to a breach of contract which saw most of its programming moved to Viacom-owned TNN and MTV. The Delaware Chancery Court ruled in favor of the WWF in June 2000.[1][2] Then CEO Linda McMahon revealed that WWF wanted its own cable network and testified that before WWF signed a rights deal with Viacom, the company had floated the idea of acquiring USA's Sci-Fi Channel, and reformatting it as a dedicated wrestling network. USA executives rejected the idea, and McMahon said that former USA Networks President Barry Baker encouraged her to talk to other programmers about potential deals. " 'I can tell you right now, Linda, you're not going to get anybody to give you a network,' " McMahon quoted Baker in her testimony.[1] In 2005, USA Network re-acquired the rights to all WWE programming.
As the result of an online poll, WrestleMania Rewind was chosen as a name for a new WWE Network show on October 17, 2011.[6] The original launch date was set for April 1, 2012, which would have coincided with WrestleMania XXVIII, and WWE's official website featured a countdown clock that would have expired on April 1. The clock was quietly removed, and the network did not launch as advertised.[7] WWE chief marketing officer Michelle Wilson allayed fears about the future of the WWE Network, saying "There will be a WWE network in some shape or form. We are in late-stage negotiations with distributors", and confirmed that WWE Legends' House had been filmed.[8] In April 2013, WWE had switched plans and aimed to release the WWE Network as a premium pay-TV outlet, with a potential price of $15 a month.[9]
On Old School Raw in January 2014, WWE ran teasers promoting an announcement on January 8 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas,[10] later confirming that the announcement concerned the WWE Network.[11] At the Consumer Electronics Show, WWE revealed a comprehensive plan which would see a launch date of February 24, 2014 in the United States.[12][13][14]WWE Classics on Demand closed on January 31, 2014, to make way for the WWE Network.[15] A free trial period was offered during the week of the launch.[16] At the time of the launch, archival programming from WCW, ECW, SMW, AWA, and Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), amongst other promotions owned by WWE Libraries Inc. was included on the service. The logo initially used for the WWE Network eventually became the standard logo used by the WWE corporation in August 2014.[17]
WrestleMania XXX was the first pay-per-view to stream on the network
In April 2014, ahead of WrestleMania XXX, the Network received acclaim, with The New York Times saying that WWE had "positioned themselves on the cutting edge of Internet television."[18] Later that month, the company announced that the network had 667,000 subscribers, short of the one million subscribers they needed to break even.[19] As WWE's stock fell 50% the following month, Forbes described low subscription numbers as being of "additional concern" for investors after WWE's underwhelming NBCUniversal renewal deal.[20] WWE offered a second free preview week of the WWE Network, which started July 7, in an attempt to sign new subscribers.[21] A second report released at the end of July indicated that the network had reached 700,000 subscribers.[22] WWE's goal was to reach one million subscribers by the end of 2014.[22][23]
Expansion
On July 31, 2014, the company announced a 10-year, Canadian distribution deal for WWE content with Rogers Media (owner of Sportsnet 360, the historic carrier of WWE programming in Canada), which was to see the company distribute WWE Network as a premium television service.[24] Also on that date, it was announced that the WWE Network would launch in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mexico, Spain, and the Nordics, among others on August 12, with Italian, Arab, German, Japanese, Indian, Chinese, Thai, and Malaysian launches planned for a later date.[25][26][27] On October 30, 2014, in an attempt to increase subscription numbers from an announced figure of 731,000, the 6-month subscription requirement was dropped, allowing subscribers the option to cancel at any time.[28][29] WWE had originally planned to launch the network on October 1 in the United Kingdom, but was delayed for a further month.[30] The launch was confirmed to be taking place at 8 p.m. on November 3;[31] however, 20 minutes prior to the launch, WWE announced that it had been indefinitely delayed.[32][33] Vince McMahon publicly apologized for the delay.[34] It was announced on January 4, 2015, that the WWE Network would be launching in the UK and Ireland on January 19, 2015, priced at £9.99 and €12.99, respectively,[35] although some customers managed to register as early as January 13.[36][37][38]
On January 27, 2015, WWE announced that the WWE Network had reached 1 million subscribers,[39] with Vince McMahon saying that WWE would "remain focused on delivering an outstanding value proposition for our fans by adding new content and new features in the coming year."[40] On February 12, 2015, WWE announced a five-year partnership with television provider OSN to bring the WWE Network to the Middle East and North Africa as a premium service.[41] On March 31, 2019, all OSN Sports channels were shut down and WWE content stopped airing on OSN services. A year later, WWE announced the Network content would be accessible in the MENA region directly through WWE services with no regional television provider or streaming service involved. Currently, and since March 23, 2022, Shahid holds exclusive rights to the Network content in the region.[42]
On July 30, 2015, WWE revealed the number of subscribers for the Network at 1.156 million. This was announced as a part of WWE's financial reporting on the second quarter of the year, which had resulted in their stock price rising past $20.00 after closing on the previous day at $16.48. The total of 1.156 million paid subscribers marked a 13% decrease from the 1.315 million paid subscribers that was stated in the reports for the first quarter of 2015. WWE also revealed, including trial subscribers, they had 1.227 million Network users at the end of the second quarter, and over the entire lifespan of the Network, there have been over 2 million unique subscribers.[43]
The WWE Network launched in India on November 2, 2015.[44][45] On November 19, a report by market research and consulting firm Park Associates announced that the WWE Network had broken into the top five streaming services and trailed only MLB.tv in the sports category.[46] WWE announced the network would launch in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Japan on January 5, 2016,[47][48] followed by Thailand and the Philippines on February 29, 2016.[49]
In April 2017, WWE announced a total of 1.949 million subscribers to the WWE Network, of which 1.661 million were paid subscribers.[50] At the end of the third quarter of 2017, the number had dropped to 1.5 million paid users.[51] In April 2018, WWE announced subscriber growth had reached 2.1 million, with 1.8 million paid.[52] At the end of the third quarter of 2018 the number had dropped to 1.6 million paid users.[51]
Switch to Endeavor and redesign
In January 2019, WWE Network signed with Endeavor Streaming to replace BAMTech as its operating partner. WWE's decision was motivated by the acquisition of BAMTech by Disney.[53] Co-president George Barrios cited concerns over how BAMTech's relationships with third-party partners would be impacted by the sale, while WWE also sought greater control over the service and its operations, intending to partner with another vendor or take the service entirely in-house. The company decided to partner with Endeavor Streaming (formed primarily from the assets of NeuLion) to provide infrastructure and billing services, and Massive Interactive to develop a new front-end and mobile apps.[54]
The new WWE Network platform launched in July 2019, ahead of SummerSlam. It includes a revamped user experience, support for 1080p streams, new browsing tools (such as a new "Superstars" interface for filtering content by performers), and plans to add a download feature for offline viewing in the future. Support for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and selected legacy smart TVs was discontinued with the changeover.[54] In an interview with The Verge, Barrios revealed that there were ongoing plans for WWE.com's existing video content to be integrated into the WWE Network platform as a "free" tier (possibly also including previews of WWE Network's premium content), and that WWE was also considering the development of a premium tier with additional features (such as benefits for other WWE operations).[54]
In March 2020, amid the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and to promote WrestleMania 36, WWE Network made a selection of its premium content and archives available free for a limited time.[55] On June 1, 2020, WWE Network officially launched a free tier with 15,000 hours of content, which includes access to selected content such as recent episodes of its weekly programming, and original series such as Raw Talk, Monday Night War, and Ride Along. The service would be advertising-free, and was intended primarily to promote its weekly programs and pay-per-view events.[56]
Global phase-out
On January 25, 2021, WWE announced that NBCUniversal Television and Streaming had acquired the exclusive U.S. distribution rights to WWE Network, and that the service would be folded into the NBCUniversal-owned streaming service Peacock on March 18, 2021 (ahead of Fastlane and WrestleMania 37). Existing and future WWE Network content will be hosted by a branded channel within the Peacock service, with the full service included as part of the paid Peacock Premium tier (which features a wider array of television, film, and sports programming), and a selection of WWE Network content (including some of its original series such as The Bump and Raw Talk, and episodes of Total Divas and Total Bellas from NBCUniversal cable channel E!) available within its free tier.[57] WWE committed to produce a "signature documentary" for the service annually beginning in 2022.[58]
After a transitional period, the standalone WWE Network ceased operations in the United States on April 4, 2021.[57][59] To coincide with the introduction, Peacock announced plans to offer a four-month half-price promotion for new Premium subscribers.[57][59] Not all content was available at launch, as the service's library was being audited to meet NBCUniversal standards and practices. WWE stated that the content migration would be completed by August 2021.[60] This has included the removal of scenes/matches containing content inappropriate under current standards, with the most prominent example being a WrestleMania VI match where Roddy Piperpainted half of his body black before facing African-American opponent Bad News Brown.[61][60]
This agreement did not initially affect the WWE Network service outside of the United States, which continued to be marketed as a standalone offering through either WWE or its local partners.[58][62] However, in 2022 WWE began to reach additional agreements to merge WWE Network into streaming services in other territories,[63] including Disney+ Hotstar in Indonesia,[63]Binge in Australia (as an extension of WWE's existing media rights agreement in Australia with Foxtel, which also saw a Foxtel-run WWE linear channel added to its services),[64]Disney+ in the Philippines,[65] and Abema in Japan.[66]
On January 23, 2024, WWE announced an agreement with Netflix to hold the rights to Raw globally, and rights to Raw, SmackDown, NXT, documentaries, and pay-per-view events outside of the United States, beginning in January 2025.[67][68][69] Immediately after the announcement, the future of the WWE Network was left unclear, though it was speculated that the service was about to be discontinued since it had been already moved to other streaming services in other regions.
On November 22, 2024, an email was sent out to many subscribers confirming that the service will no longer be available in certain areas effective January 1, 2025. It was first sent out in United Kingdom, with this change also taking effect in other territories outside the United States, though a list was not published in this statement.[70] It was subsequently reported that WWE Network would remain active in a small number of international markets where Netflix cannot yet assume rights due to conflicting contracts, and in fact was relaunching as a standalone service in the Philippines following the end of WWE's contract in the region with Disney+.[71]
In December 2019, WWE renewed its agreements in Sub-Saharan Africa with SuperSport, adding a WWE-branded channel to DStv carrying WWE programs and WWE Network original series.[74]
On January 27, 2022, it was announced that WWE Network would be available on Disney+ Hotstar in Indonesia at no additional costs to subscribers.[63][75]
On September 28, 2022, WWE announced an agreement with its Australian rightsholder Foxtel, which will see WWE Network merged into its streaming service Binge beginning in January 2023, with a launch later set for January 23, 2023.[77] As part of the agreement, Foxtel's channel Fox8 will continue to carry WWE programming, and Foxtel will also introduce a new, WWE-branded linear channel.[64][78] On October 20, 2022, it was announced that the WWE Network would move to Disney+ in the Philippines upon its launch on November 17, 2022; however, WWE's agreement with Disney+ ended two years later, following which WWE Network relaunched as a standalone service.[79][71]
Main Event – An in-ring program featuring talent from the Raw and NXT brands. Episodes air with three weeks of delay (original broadcast continues to air on Hulu).
NXT Level Up – An in-ring program featuring talent from the NXT developmental brand.[84]
Current WWE Network Shows
Breaking News – Breaking news from WWE.
Original Specials – A series of specials on the WWE Network.
WWE Collections Spotlight – A preview show that offers a sampling of exclusive WWE Collections that are available on the WWE Network.[85]
WWE Hidden Gems – Rare content from WWE's video library. Previously offered through the WWE Network's Collections section, but moved to the Vault Section. Unavailable on the Peacock/US version.
WWE Raw Talk – A weekly post-show for WWE Raw, hosted by Megan Morant and Sam Roberts.[86]
WWE SmackDown LowDown - A weekly Saturday morning post-show for WWE SmackDown, hosted by Megan Morant and Sam Roberts.
WWE 24 – A documentary show that goes behind the scenes of WWE events and personnel.
The Best of WWE - These are the matches, moments and Superstars that made WWE the worldwide leader in sports entertainment.
WWE's The Ultimate Show - WWE hosts assemble fantasy dream matches featuring a who's who of WWE Legends and modern-day Superstars.
This is Awesome - A retrospective series that celebrates the awesome moments in WWE. Hosted by Greg Miller. (Peacock/US exclusive)
Former WWE Network Shows
WWE Ride Along – A show following WWE personalities as they drive from city to city.
Table for 3 – Three WWE personalities share stories over dinner.
Marquee Matches – Prominent matches in WWE history are showcased.[87]
Superstar Picks – WWE wrestlers present their favorite matches in their entirety.[88]
Beyond the Ring – Documentary portions of previously released WWE DVDs featuring various performers, organizations, and storylines.
WWE Talking Smack - A post-show for SmackDown pay-per-views hosted by Renee Young and several guest hosts. The show was originally a weekly post-show for SmackDown Live and was hosted by Young and Shane McMahon or Daniel Bryan or John "Bradshaw" Layfield.
WWE 365 – A documentary series that reviews a year in the career of a WWE talent.
WWE Chronicle – A documentary series that chronicles a WWE personality and their journey through personal interviews and candid moments. Also airs on YouTube.
Music Power 10 – A top 10 WWE Music countdown show.
Watch Along – Pat McAfee interviews guests while watching various pay-per-views.
WWE Photo Shoot – A show where current and former WWE personnel sit down to explain the stories behind photos of their careers and lives. Also airs on YouTube.
The Day Of – A documentary series that catch a glimpse of WWE Superstars' lives as they prepare mentally and physically for their biggest matches. Also airs on YouTube.
Steve Austin's Broken Skull Sessions – Stone Cold Steve Austin interviews WWE Superstars and legends.
Break It Down – The stories behind some of the biggest matches and moments in WWE history are discussed by the Superstars and legends who lived them.
Ruthless Aggression - The WWE Ruthless Aggression docuseries picks up where WWE Network's Monday Night War series left off, detailing the years that followed the Attitude Era, after WWE absorbed its-then top rival, WCW.[89]
Notsam Wrestling – Sam Roberts interviews WWE Superstars and legends.
WWE Icons – A documentary series that is poised to be cover a number of top legends and Hall of Famers.
WWE Evil – A documentary series that chronicles the minds of the most diabolical antagonists in WWE history and their impact on mainstream culture. (Peacock/US exclusive)
First Look – A first look at upcoming WWE Home Video releases.
Holy Foley! – A reality TV show starring Mick Foley and his family.[90]
Jerry Springer Too Hot for TV – Jerry Springer hosts this look back at some of WWE's most outrageous and embarrassing moments.
Unfiltered with Renee Young – Interview show hosted by Renee Young. Topics discussed include WWE wrestlers' wrestling careers and stories, music, and films.
Legends' House – A reality television series featuring several retired personnel.
The Monday Night War: WWE vs. WCW – A television series about the Monday Night War.[82]
Slam City – An animated series featuring current WWE talent, based on the Mattel toy line of the same name.
The WWE List – A fast-paced, interactive series that tallies tweets from the WWE Universe to compile the most unusual lists ever in WWE history.
WrestleMania Rewind – The first show named to be part of the network; a retrospective look at WrestleMania's memorable moments.
WWE Countdown – A top-10 countdown show based on interactive fan polls.[82]
WWE Rivalries – A show documenting rivalries in wrestling.
Mixed Match Challenge – A seasonal tournament featuring mixed tag team matches. Episodes air with two days of delay (original broadcast continues to air on Facebook Watch).
WWE's The Bump - Hosts Megan Morant, Sam Roberts and Ryan Pappolla interview WWE Superstars and Legends, who share stories and answer questions from the WWE Universe.
Collections
WWE Network previously offered "WWE Collections", which are video packages of memorable characters and storylines.[101] In July 2019, WWE updated the network and subsequently removed all collections.
Former collections
AJ Styles: Beyond Phenomenal
Alexa Bliss: Five Feet Of Fury
Andre the Giant
Asuka: The Undefeated Empress
Attitude Era: Stone Cold
Batista Unleashed
Becoming The Rock
Becky Lynch: Straight Fire
Best of Stone Cold vs. Mr. McMahon Part I
Best of Stone Cold vs. Mr. McMahon Part II
Best of Stone Cold vs. Mr. McMahon Part III
Bobby "The Brain" Heenan
Bret vs Shawn: The Rivalry
Curt Hawkins: Nothing To Lose
Daniel Bryan's Greatest Moments
Destruction of the Shield
Dusty Rhodes: The American Dream
DX: Are You Ready?
Eddie Guerrero: Viva La Raza!
Edge: You Think You Know Me?
Finn Balor: Worldwide Sensation
Goldberg: Who's Next?
Hall of Fame: Class of 2018
Hell in a Cell
Jeff Jarrett: Ain't He Great
Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart
King Booker: All Hail!
Kurt Angle: It's True, It's True
Lesnar: The Road To The Undisputed Title
Ladder Match: Reaching For Glory
The Legacy of Shane McMahon
Mean Gene Okerlund
Mickie James: Crazy Sweetheart
Million Dollar Man: Priceless
Miz: The A-Lister
Money in the Bank
New to WWE Network (changed regularly)
New Classic Content (changed monthly)
The New Day: Feel The Positivity
Nikolai Volkoff
nWo: For Life
Patterson 'N Brisco: The Stooges
Piper's Pit: Born to Controversy
Randy Savage: Cream of the Crop
Raw 25: 100–76
Raw 25: 75–51
Raw 25: 50–26
Raw 25: 25–01
Razor Ramon: Oozing Machismo
Rey Mysterio: Biggest Little Man
Ric Flair: Forever The Man
Ric Flair: Stylin' and Profilin
Rusev: Happy Rusev Day
Sami Zayn: Never Be The Same
Sammartino: The Legend Lives
Sasha Banks: The Legit Boss
Shawn Michaels: Heartbreak Kid
Shawn Michaels: Mr. Wrestlemania
Shinsuke Nakamura: The Rock Star
Stephanie McMahon: All Business
Sting: The Icon Defined
The Bar: Sheamus and Cesaro
The Brothers of Destruction
The Collection of Jericho
The Four Horsewomen of NXT
The Godfather: All Aboard
The Hardys: Team Xtreme
The Man They Call Vader
The NXT Takeover Collection
The Rise of John Cena
The Royal Rumble Match
The Undertaker vs Triple H Collection
The WarGames Collection
Three Faces of Foley
TLC Tag Teams
Tribute to the Troops
Trish and Lita: Evolutionary
Trish Stratus: Stay Stratusfied
Undertaker: Dawn Of The Deadman
Women's Evolution
WWE Match of the Year 2017
WWE Match of the Year 2018
WrestleMania Monday
Wrestlemania Theater
Chyna: Ninth Wonder of the World
Best of Swerved Season One
The Canadian Collection
Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz (removed December 2017)[102]
Hall of Fame: Class of 2017
WrestleMania Show Stealers
Subscriber's Choice (changed quarterly, removed September 2017)[103]
George 'The Animal' Steele (removed October 2017)[104]
The Incomparable Mr. Fuji (removed October 2017)[104]
Jimmy Snuka: The Superfly (removed October 2017)[104]
The Cruiserweight Anthology (removed December 2017)
Gravest Matches Ever (removed December 2017)
Randy Orton: Apex Predator (removed December 2017)
ECW Barely Legal Revisited (removed January 2018)
Colorful Characters (removed February 2018)
Greatest Matches Ever (removed February 2018)[105]
Celebrating Black History (removed March 2018)[106]
WWE Flashback Friday (changed weekly, removed May 2018)[107]
In addition to previous editions of the original programs listed above, the network includes many other previously aired events.
Although the United States parental guidelines rating system rates most weekly WWE television programs TV-PG, the WWE Network broadcasts a wider range of content. A parental controls block is available and content rated TV-14 and TV-MA are preceded by an advisory warning. The network airs footage featuring Chris Benoit; it marks the first major airing of Benoit footage or even mention of Benoit in said footage since his double-murder-suicide in 2007.[110] However, the Benoit tribute episode of Raw is replaced with the episode that aired internationally, a recap of championship matches. Also, Vengeance: Night of Champions in 2007 removes all references to Benoit during the ECW World Championship match. Over the Edge 1999, infamous for Owen Hart's death at the event, is also available for the first time since its original air date; however, some portions of the event have been edited out of respect to the Hart family.[111] Matches called with Jesse Ventura on commentary, which had previously been dubbed over due to a 1991 lawsuit, are available with the original commentary.[112]
While the network promoted on-demand airings as being unedited, some instances of expletives, gestures, and all nudity are censored. Many programs were digitized for WWE 24/7 prior to the 2012 settlement with the World Wide Fund for Nature, and thus the "WWF" and the "WWF scratch" logo are censored in some instances.[113][114] Some original music has been dubbed over with alternate tracks such as the original intro music to Saturday Night's Main Event (May 1985 – January 1988 episodes) which originally played "Obsession" by Animotion.[115]
At launch, all but one of New Jack's matches were removed from ECW pay-per-views, as was his surprise return at Heat Wave 1998, due to a combination of musical rights issues over his entrance music and the inability to remove the music without losing the original commentary audio. The deleted matches were eventually reinstated with replacement music and newly recorded Joey Styles commentary.[116] Several pay-per-views are copies of their condensed home video releases, rather than the live versions, and so are missing matches.[117]
Archive content on the Peacock-hosted version of WWE Network is being further edited for content by NBCUniversal. On launch, two pay-per-views were edited to remove racially-insensitive content; WrestleMania VI was edited to remove a match between Roddy Piper and Bad News Brown where Piper had painted half of his body black, and Survivor Series 2005 was edited to remove a backstage segment where Vince McMahon used a racial slur in front of Booker T and John Cena.[60]
In addition the pay-per-view section contains several events which did not air on pay-per-view, such as WWE events Royal Rumble 1988[119] and WWE Global Warning Tour: Melbourne.[120] Many ECW Supercards are also listed as pay-per-views, despite never actually airing there.[121]
WWF/WWE home video
The WWE Network offers videos under the "Home Video Classics" header which includes various previous home video releases that had been originally released by Coliseum Video.[122]
Fight Club (select episodes from 2018 and first-run episodes from November 2020 until 2023)
Select marquee events such as Shug's Hoose Party 5 and Fear and Loathing XI, with post-pandemic marquee events going first-run from Fear and Loathing XII until Insane Championship Wrestling's 2023 events
As Seen on YouTube – The best of WWE's YouTube content.[141]
WWE Quick Hits – A monthly show with extra short clips from various DVDs & WWE Network shows.[141]
Impact on pay-per-view industry
In an interview with Time, Michelle D. Wilson, chief revenue and marketing officer for WWE, stated their reason for bypassing cable companies and instead only offering the WWE Network online: "Digital over-the-top offerings represent the future, and given that our passionate fans consume five times more online video content than non-WWE viewers and over-index for purchasing online subscriptions such as Netflix and Hulu, we believe the time is now for a WWE Network."[142]
In response to the announcement, DirecTV issued a statement saying that they are re-evaluating whether to continue carrying WWE's pay-per-view events. Due to the fact that these events would also be available on the WWE Network once it launches, it might reduce the number of pay-per-view purchases via cable and satellite providers. Vince McMahon suggested that pay-TV operators would ultimately decide to continue to carry WWE's pay-per-view events, given that providers keep a significant share of each purchase, and incur minimal costs (apart from WWE's share of the fee for each purchase) to carry the events: "It's found money for them."[143] DirecTV later quietly dropped carriage of WWE PPVs. In response, WWE said, "Yes, DIRECTV has decided to stop offering our PPV's residentially and commercially. The only other option would be to work through the local cable provider."[144]
On February 19, 2014, Dish Network announced that they would carry WWE pay-per-views on an event by event basis, beginning with Elimination Chamber. Dish Network later released a statement saying, "Dish will not offer the 'WWE Elimination Chamber' PPV on 2/23. WWE is not willing to adjust their PPV costs to satellite and cable companies, which is unfair to their customers. We need to re-focus our efforts to support partners that better serve Dish customers."[145] Dish later made a decision to air WrestleMania XXX.[146] Dish declined to offer WrestleMania 31 and 32 but did offer WrestleMania 33 in 2017.[147]
Advertising
In October 2014, it was reported Mattel, Kmart, and Pepsi would begin advertising on the network starting the week of October 13. Wilson stated that although no commercial breaks will occur during scheduled programming, 30 second adverts would run in between shows, and that one 15 or 30-second advert would be shown prior to every fourth stream of on-demand content.[148][149]
Notes
^The steel cage match from No Holds Barred: The Match/The Movie is available on the home video Supertape, which is available on the WWE Network.
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