I hope they have a tiered system like Netflix and a month-to-month payment plan instead of six months at a time.

Because of the PPV offering and the money they would lose if people cancelled after one month, I suspect it will be all or nothing. Give us six months or give us nothing, basically. And I think considering the old model, that's more than fair.

Netflix removes content every month this is nothing new.

Netflix removes content because deals to carry that content expire. This is all footage WWE owns the rights to.

 

HBO keeps all of their series on HBO GO all the time... it's not like the Sopranos disappears some months.

 

This won't keep me from subscribing... I'd have been subscribing to 24/7 for years if I'd ever had the option. But it's still a backtracking on the big talk they were doing about the library.

 

Some stuff does fall off HBO Go from time to time.

 

Those are movies, though. All of HBO's original series programming remains. They do hold back on some of the sports series, though.

 

Idk about the movies but for the sports series, that's mostly a footage rights issue. When you start dealing with sports leagues like the NHL or the NFL, they charge a lot of fees for networks like ESPN to use their footage on a digital platform compared to over the air TV.

Mookieghana (posting over on F4W) echoed my thought, which is that limiting the amount of stuff on the system at any one time may not be a storage issue, but rather a way to make sure the browse and search functions run smoothly.

I don't think they want to start off with a ton of stuff on there just yet just like when Netflix started streaming the difference between content streaming and content they were selling physically only was pretty big

I would think the idea would be twofold: keep the search functions from blowing up like mookie said, and also to keep the choices from being overwhelming during the launch period. It sounds weird, but if you give people millions of choices from the start they end up not watching any of them since your brain gets too overloaded to choose.

 

I would suspect the content will expand as the service goes on, my only fear is if it doesn't take off like gangbusters it might fall in to the WWE 24/7 ghetto of being ignored.

I would suspect the content will expand as the service goes on, my only fear is if it doesn't take off like gangbusters it might fall in to the WWE 24/7 ghetto of being ignored.

I'd imagine Vince flipping the bird at PPV providers means they can't let it fail like 24/7.

I hope they have a tiered system like Netflix and a month-to-month payment plan instead of six months at a time.

You have to commit to six months but it will be billed monthly.

I hope they have a tiered system like Netflix and a month-to-month payment plan instead of six months at a time.

You have to commit to six months but it will be billed monthly.

 

Thats good if they do it like that because I've heard you had to pay it all ay once.

A month to month system is more ideal for WWE too. They'll set you up on automatic renewals until you cancel. So to a fair percentage of people, it won't even occur to them that they should consider whether or not to renew.

If WWE is violating their deals with the PPV providers by selling the WWE Network at $10 per month, why hasn't DirecTV threatened to file a lawsuit?

Also why was UFC able to do that B3G1 sale for the last 4 shows of the year on UFC.TV?

I understand people not trusting WWE do the Network right. But I really feel like this is one time where they'll be forced to listen to consumer demand due to how badly they need this to work. Their original plans for how often they will update, the size of the updates, the type of content they will update, all of that will likely change after launch if people are clamoring for more.

 

It's not like they have to go out and produce a lot of original stuff to create more updates. If people are going "hey we want more WCW" it's not like they have to do a whole lot to make that happen.

 

The old problem with their Classics on Demand online service was that they treated it as secondary to DVDs and would frequently delete content that would be on a new DVD release. I don't think this is going to be a concern with the Network because the Network is going to be more important to them than DVD sales. There is no reason to hold something back in fear of cannibalizing future DVD sales, and that means we're likely to eventually get large continuous runs of Raw, Smackdown, Nitro, Thunder & Saturday Night in high quality.

 

If people want territory footage I think it's going to be up to message boards like this and DVDVR to subscribe to The Network and continue to request it. I think it's the best chance we have of getting that stuff put out for mass consumption in a high quality format. I can't think of a reason they would NOT upload AWA, WCCW, Georga, Mid-South, etc if there was a vocal minority of paying costumers requesting it. What else would they own it for if not to use it eventually?

 

All of that said, there need to be realistic expectations as well. This is a service they are banking on to carry them forward. They are going to always need something held back that people want to see to keep having good updates. They are pretty much not just going to go "well ok here's everything we have digitized already" and upload it all at one time.

It goes without saying but they will also track the popularity of the streaming content. If the Monday NIght Wars is the most popular streaming show, we will get inundated with tons of Attitude era content.

It really does feel unpredictable this year. I think maybe we'll know more depending on how they book Bryan on Raw because as far as I know they haven't even announced him as being in the Rumble yet.

For the purposes of the archives, do you all think they'll consider big shows prior to Starrcade '87 as pay-per-views? Do you think they will consider the first Wrestlemania as a pay-per-view? I was also thinking about the Crockett Cup and Bash shows. I can't see them just putting up the THE release, especially since they will do the PPV version of every other show. And based on the never-before-seen footage they have released from the JCP days, I have a feeling Crockett taped every Bash house show from 1986-1988 in full. And wouldn't it be awesome if they considered the Crockett Cup a pay-per-view and happened to post unedited shows of both nights for all three years. Some people also think that for the purpose of the on-demand archive, they'll treat Clashes as pay-per-views too.

It really does feel unpredictable this year. I think maybe we'll know more depending on how they book Bryan on Raw because as far as I know they haven't even announced him as being in the Rumble yet.

Wrong thread?

I understand people not trusting WWE do the Network right. But I really feel like this is one time where they'll be forced to listen to consumer demand due to how badly they need this to work. Their original plans for how often they will update, the size of the updates, the type of content they will update, all of that will likely change after launch if people are clamoring for more.

This is again one of those times where we have to remember that the majority of customers are not us.

Matt is exactly right.....I've gauged interest at my job and other social circles since the announcement of the Network and what do people want to see the most.......

 

Attitude Era

Nitro

ECW

 

And that is what they are offering a lot of.

For the purposes of the archives, do you all think they'll consider big shows prior to Starrcade '87 as pay-per-views? Do you think they will consider the first Wrestlemania as a pay-per-view? I was also thinking about the Crockett Cup and Bash shows. I can't see them just putting up the THE release, especially since they will do the PPV version of every other show. And based on the never-before-seen footage they have released from the JCP days, I have a feeling Crockett taped every Bash house show from 1986-1988 in full. And wouldn't it be awesome if they considered the Crockett Cup a pay-per-view and happened to post unedited shows of both nights for all three years. Some people also think that for the purpose of the on-demand archive, they'll treat Clashes as pay-per-views too.

I think we will get the DVD release of all of the Manias including #1.

 

WCW is up in the air. They have all the Starrcades so I can see them releasing all of the full Starrcades but skipping on the commercial releases of the GABs and Crockett Cups. I will be shocked and happy if they release them in full.

 

They released a Clash DVD set so we could see the full Clashes released eventually or just the Best of the Clash DVD that popped up.

Particularly this year, and I imagine in years to come, people are going to sign up for the network just in time to see Wrestlemania. Considering that they'll want to keep such subscribers hooked the whole year, could this mean a bump in prominence for the October PPV that would be just out of reach for somebody that signed up in April with a 6 month contract? Would be interesting as its usually a time WWE is usually in low gear.

I want the complete Mid-South & WCCW Library, I already have seen all the ppvs 10 times, idc about those

@JoeyStyles YES, #ECW HEATWAVE '98 AND #ECW ONE NIGHT STAND '05 ARE ON THE LIST...AND WILL BE ON @WWENETWORK 2/24/14

I have asked for the magical list. I won't get a reply.

I want the complete Mid-South & WCCW Library, I already have seen all the ppvs 10 times, idc about those

I think almost all of us are in the same boat, though most of us realize why they're doing what they're doing. I applaud your directness on this matter though.

Matt is exactly right.....I've gauged interest at my job and other social circles since the announcement of the Network and what do people want to see the most.......

 

Attitude Era

Nitro

ECW

 

And that is what they are offering a lot of.

I think I remember in the days when the WWEClassics crew interacted with viewers that modern/newer wrestling drew a lot more hits than the territories. Those of us who prefer watching old footage are really a small minority.