WWE
is in trouble. Financially speaking, the company's stock lost more than
half its value last week. Creatively speaking, the company has lost
focus and direction, and has forgotten how to create characters that
connect with its fans, and without those characters, financial success
will not return. The following are a few thoughts on what needs to
happen for the company to turn around.
The WWE Network
The
drop in stock price last week is believed to have been caused by a
double-whammy of statements made by the company involving the new WWE
Network. The first blow was that even though the company had previously
predicted a break-even at 1,000,000 subscribers to the WWE Network, the
company will be losing millions of dollars; break-even is now slated to
be at 1.5 Million subscribers. The second major blow was the
announcement that WWE's broadcasting deal with NBC Universal only got it
a 70% increase in revenue; Vince McMahon had previously suggested a
150% increase in revenue generated from such a deal. This involved the
WWE Network to the extent that it is intimated that the launch of the
WWE Network hampered WWE's negotiating leverage with NBC Universal.
One
thing that needs to be made perfectly clear is that the WWE Network is
the smart move and the right move. Several stories are suggesting that
WWE executives all of a sudden want to pull the plug on the WWE Network.
Not only would such a move be foolish because of how much time and
money has already been invested in the infrastructure and support needed
to launch such an endeavor, but even more so because streaming content
is the future of television viewing.
A small history lesson --
broadcast television started with, as most of us know, a signal being
broadcast by a local television station over the air to antennas that
would receive the signal in people's homes. Though, the broadcast
signals did not reach much folks outside of big city areas, so cable
came along to rebroadcast the over the air signals to remote areas.
Cable and broadcast television have been the ways people have gotten
their television signals for the last several decades. But with the
spread of high speed Internet across the country, Americans now have a
different way of receiving high-bandwidth content into their homes. Over
the last few years, we have seen services like Netflix, Amazon Prime,
Hulu and others come out of nowhere to become major forces when it comes
to providing television content to consumers; they have even started to
produce their own, exclusive shows.
So where does this
leave the state of broadcast and cable television? While streaming
services, like those mentioned above, only have a small percentage of
the customer base of cable companies like Time Warner and Comcast, the
fact of the matter is that there is simply no need for over the air
(broadcast) and cable services to exist any longer. Assuming every, if
not most, Americans have a high-speed Internet connection, they are able
to access the same television content that way; there is simply no need
for bunny ears to receive a television signal over the air, or to pay
an extra fee for cable service that provides the same content accessible
online. Over the air broadcast signals will probably be terminated
sooner than later, and if the government is wise in its use of the
spectrum, it will allocate that spectrum for cheap or free Internet
service (which, as a side-note, is why Aereo is a dying technology
before it has even had a major go at it), and cable is simply a
redundant service, outside of the fact that the same transmission lines
also provide Internet service. At the end of it all, the concept of TV
as we know it, with networks owning certain channels in local broadcast
areas, with their content being distributed by local affiliates, and in
certain instances, being rebroadcast via cable providers, is all but
dead.
So -- back to the WWE Network. The WWE Network is
ahead of the times, but not by much. It would be a horrible move to can
the project now that it is full steam ahead. Once WWE expands the
user-base internationally, I believe it will well-surpass its goal of
1.5 Million subscribers. The problem with the WWE Network's
introduction, however, as many have noted, was its timing --- right
before the contract with NBC Universal was set to be re-negotiated.
Understanding the history and future of television broadcast technology
is important, because it provides insight as to why WWE lost some of its
leverage in the negotiations.
From a television perspective
(i.e., leaving the movie business aside), the value of NBC Universal,
and in fact all television 'networks,' is dropping fast. As discussed,
the value of being able to broadcast an over the air signal via local
affiliate stations is declining at an exponential rate because most
homeowners no longer use an over the air signal to watch television. And
the value of NBC as a 'Network' on a cable service is heading south as
well (and in this particular scenario, the fact that NBC is owned by
Comcast, the largest cable provider in the U.S. is quite poignant). So
what is left to NBC as a brand? The only thing it can grasp onto is
content -- if it has the exclusive distribution and broadcast rights to
good content, it will continue to survive, at least for a little bit
longer; not as Channel 4, or whatever it might be in your local area,
but as a package of branded television content.
When WWE
launched the WWE Network, it raised a red flag at NBC. The WWE Network
is a sign that WWE wants to deliver and distribute its own content,
i.e., without having third parties such as NBC involved. If WWE's
prerogative is to deliver its own content, and if NBC Universal is
grasping at straws to protect its content distribution rights, surely
NBC is going to have a negative reaction. Indeed, that is also why
companies like Dish Network and Direct TV, two other services that are
as useless today as a cable provider, dropped WWE's pay-per-view
distribution. The last straw that broadcasters are holding onto is
content, and if you even balk at taking that away from them, they are
going to have a visceral reaction because they are trying to protect
whatever they have left in what is clearly a losing game on their end.
The
bottom line, though, is that WWE is doing the right thing with its WWE
Network. It needs to continue to expand its service to other countries
as quickly as possible to reach the numbers that it needs, and it needs
to, if at all possible, bring its flagship Raw and Smackdown shows to
the service at more accessible time. Given, the deal with NBC likely
limited its capabilities in that area, but let's hope that there is some
wiggle-room in the contract to at least allow replays of the content
sooner than what appears on third-party services like Hulu Plus.
Character Development
WWE's
main product is not wrestling; sure two guys can fight in a ring and
show some athletic talent, but that is not what brings money in the door
(just ask TNA). What draws viewers to TV shows, fans to live matches
and customers to toy stores is a good storyline involving characters in
which consumers are emotionally invested. It is not enough to give
someone a gimmick and leave it at that; the Bray Wyatt character appears
to be the portrayal a cult leader from the south with two of his gruff
followers. He has great music, knows how to cut a promo, and is a
phenomenal athlete for a man of his size and build. Yet, his feud with
John Cena has not intrigued fans, outside of the fact that many older
male viewers have taken a dislike for the near-comic-book hero character
portrayed by John Cena, and just want to see him get beaten up. For the
less hardcore fan, however, there has never truly been an explanation
why a cult leader from the stix is beating up this comic book hero.
Sure, one's a good guy and one's a bad guy, but other than that, almost
nothing in the feud has made sense. Indeed, previous feuds involving the
Wyatt's -- kidnapping Kane, and Daniel Bryan joining the Wyatt Family
-- have been intriguing, but they never followed through; we never
understood why the Wyatt's were pursuing Kane and what happened to him
after he was abducted, and we never understood why the Wyatt's had a
beef with Daniel Bryan in the first place. You can put matches together,
but if there is no logical explanation and proper follow-through of
ideas and no development of characters, fans are not going to have any
investment in the characters that are being put on their screens.
The
biggest example of where WWE is falling short is with NXT (its
developmental system), specifically when it calls up talent from NXT to
the main rosters of Raw and Smackdown.
NXT, on its own, is
actually run quite well for what it is. Developmental talent receive
gimmicks which they can then present on TV and develop before a small
audience at Full Sail University through matches and promos. Under the
guise of Dusty Rhodes, there are clearly some terrific prospects,
including several that have already been called up to the main roster;
some of my favorites still down in NXT are Enzo Amore (currently out
with an injury) and Big Cass, and Tyler Breeze. Of course, there are
characters that still need some fine-tuning, such as Corey Graves, and
Aiden English, and others that will never make it, or should have been
dumped a long time ago, e.g., CJ Parker, and the Ascension. But all in
all, NXT has served its purpose of giving developmental talents new
identities and a platform to fully envelop themselves in those personas
to the best extent possible.
The problems come, however,
when NXT talent who have proven themselves are called up to the main
roster. The personas given to those in NXT are either scrapped entirely
or remain stagnant with no development. There are, sadly, a large number
of examples to go through ---
- Big E Langston (now just 'Big
E') had a great gimmick in NXT with his 5-Count, but for whatever
reason, that gimmick never made its way to Raw or Smackdown. So when Big
E won the Intercontinental Title, no one seemed to care. Contrast that
with the reaction Big E got this week on the NXT TV taping when he
returned to the 5-Count gimmick
- Xavier Woods, who seemed to be
portraying some sort of 90's throwback character in NXT, was called up
to the main roster and is known for being friends with R-Truth, and
stealing the entrance music of Brodus Clay. The guy's a phenomenal
talent, as was shown in his time in TNA, but whatever gimmick he was
given in NXT was thrown out the door once he arrived on the main roster,
and there is no reason for fans to invest in his character
whatsoever...indeed, what is the character in which to invest?
-
Paige, who is again a phenomenal wrestler, had a great run in NXT using
an anti-diva gimmick, which was helped tremendously by William Regal on
commentary, explaining her wrestling heritage and background. Yet when
she came to the main roster, aside from retaining the same look and
trademark scream, her gimmick all but disappeared. In fact, on her Raw
debut, she came out to 'congratulate' AJ Lee on her recent victory. The
Anti-Diva does not come out to congratulate someone, especially a heel;
she takes what she wants, when she wants it, and steps on those who
stand in her way. She was introduced to the world as a weak, pasty white
girl who won the Divas championship on a fluke. Oh, and she likes to
scream.
- Emma had an interesting gimmick in NXT of
an awkward dancer. Through several months of matches, she was able to
endear herself to the NXT fans, but, along the way, was also able to
show off her great in-ring talent. Since being called up to the main
roster, instead of being showcased as a strong female wrestling talent,
she has been made into Santino's sidekick and a bit of humor for
children.
- Adam Rose was recently introduced
after a few weeks of promo videos, but he has come out on TV for the
last few weeks, and done the same routine. It's cute and all, but after
that happens for more than a week or two, fans, including myself, get
bored. We want to know more about Adam Rose and what makes him tick. The
fun music and cool catchphrases will only last so long before the
character becomes stagnant and fans lose interest, which is already
happening.
An online commentator recently said that he
believed a large part of the problem with these NXT talents is that when
they are in NXT, they only have to deal with a small crowd with which
to connect, and that they're having problems connecting with the larger
arenas. But I would argue that the problems with these new talents has
nothing to do with the talents themselves --- each one of them mentioned
is great both athletically and as a performer. The problem, as is
evidenced by the Wyatt feud with John Cena, and all of these NXT
talents, is the writing and booking that is going on on Raw and
Smackdown. NXT actually has it right - talents are being given gimmicks,
are being given time on promos to develop their characters, and, in
some situations, are given feuds where we can see those characters
develop and broaden. But that is not happening period on Raw and
Smackdown, for any talent, NXT or otherwise. Those who are already there
are just stagnant (Zack Ryder, Dolph Ziggler, The Miz, Kofi Kingston,
Cody Rhodes, The Usos, and the list goes on...) and those that are being
introduced are just on their way to the same limbo-fate.
The
question is, why is this happening, and why is NXT doing a better job
of creating characters and feuds with depth that ensnare fans? Given, I
have no knowledge of what goes on behind the scenes at WWE, and only
hear the rumors everyone else does on the Internet. But any outside
observer would be hard pressed not to think that the main cause for this
disparity is that the main roster writing staff is having to cover
nearly eight hours of television time per week. Yes, there are probably
different folks covering Raw and Smackdown, but the fact of the matter
is that there are only a few people who have the final say on what goes on on
all of the shows, and there is only so much time one person can devote
to one thing before he needs to move on to the next. Compare that with
NXT, which is a one-hour taped television show, with a dedicated booking
staff, and a limited roster. The simple numbers show that WWE's main
roster booking staff is simply spread too thin; they don't have enough
time to invest in the superstars already there that are just sitting in
limbo, and they clearly don't have time to do anything for the new
talent being called up from NXT. Sadly, the NXT talent is being
neglected just as much as everyone else. Investment in new talent is
pointless if there is no follow-through.
So to Vince
McMahon and the WWE Executives -- keep going strong with the WWE
Network; that is the future of television as we know it. But when it
comes to your core product, you need to fix your entire booking process.
Jim Ross recently stated that the roster has 'no depth'; to the
contrary, the roster is replete with talent, but for whatever reason, it
is not being utilized properly.
