WWE held their WWE Network Conference Call earlier this morning with Michael Weitz opening the call and noting that last week the WWE made the announcement of the WWE Network and that today, there will be additional details and that Vince McMahon and George Barrios are on the call before handing it over to Vince.

Vince thanked everyone for bearing with the WWE as they came up with the best way to present the WWE Network and noted that they almost did a linear model, then a premium one, but finally came up with the right model and the right way to go and now the WWE Network will launch next month. Vince said that the WWE are not advocating the cord with cable, however this is the best way for them to deliver their network and said that this is the model that works for them going forward, mentioning that the $9.99 per month rate is affordable to wrestling fans and those that may have been fans in the past and are intrigued. Vince said that the content is great for fans new and old and hoped that the WWE can bring in new fans with the launch. Vince said that the WWE Network will drive traffic to the TV provider, hinting that deals are not finalized yet and then turned things over to George Barrios to discuss the financials of the WWE Network.

Barrios discussed the features of the WWE Network and repeated what Vince said about the price tag being affordable to fans new and old. Barrios said that the WWE Network will monitor usage and make suggestions of what to watch based off the user’s usage. Barrios said that the time is right to go via the internet due to the fact that these days, so many people, especially young people watch their TV via the internet and WWE sees that continuing in the future. Barrios also said that the company have taken into account the effect that online distributors such as Netflix, Hulu and MLB TV have had. Barrios said that the WWE Network will have 24/7 programming, plus a massive On-Demand video library with over 1500 worth of content upon launch. Barrios said that over 62 million homes either have a current or lapsed WWE fan and that is the base that they are targeting and said that the people WWE are aiming to have subscribe are the big wrestling fans, as well as those that watch a lot of their TV via the internet. Barrios then discussed the WWE Network’s 24/7 programming and On Demand content and said that fans can watch every WWE, WCW and ECW pay-per-view event, as well as every WWE RAW and WWE SmackDown show On Demand and said that the original programming will be anchored by the pay-per-view events.

Barrios then discussed new shows such as WrestleMania Rewind, The Monday Night War and WWE Countdown and said that he belives the pay-per-view events and the original shows are great draws for the subscribers and believe that the price offers tremendous value, especially for those who buy pay-per-view events monthly and said that the same can be said for non-pay-per-view buyers. Barrios then talked about the distribution strategy and noted that the company have teamed with MLB.tv to distribute the Network and that fans can subscribe at 9am Eastern on February 24th at WWE.com and will be given a one-week free trial, however after the trial, it will be $9.99 monthly. Barrios noted that the WWE Network will be available on a long list of devices and that other devices such as the XBOX One will follow. Barrios said that according to projections, the company have the potential to generate anything from $50m – $150m after expense with the WWE Network and feel that they can attract between 2-3 million subscribers on a steady basis and noted that they expect to launch in “Stage One” countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia by the end of 2014 or early 2015 and expect an additional 750,000 to 1.5 million subscribers when it launches in those areas and expect that to generate anything from $25m – $85m after expenses. Barrios noted that the WWE will have more information on their projections for the year after the first quarter conference call later in the year as he expects the WWE’s TV deals to be wrapped up by then and expected to double, if not triple the OBITDA. Barrios then passed it over to callers.

The first question was in regards to the WWE Network possibly increasing TV viewership and not taking viewers away from the product. Vince McMahon responded and said that WWE RAW and WWE SmackDown will be live and that is the value that is seen in their programming and that there are no repeats of WWE RAW and WWE SmackDown because the network wants people to view live and said that the USA Network belives that the WWE Network will help to increase their viewership.

The next question was in regards to TV deals and noted that they are in discussions and will have an announcement by the end of April or the start of May and was then asked if MLB is now a partner, but noted that MLB Advanced Media is a service and have no equity. They were then asked if they considered bundling the TV rights deal with the WWE Network and giving a discount on the Network. Barrios noted that they considered it, but decided to go with the current format. The next question was in regards to giving people that buy tickets to events a free week pass on the Network and a discount on WWE Shop material. Barrios said that he didn’t want to give away all of the secrets, but they have a lot of things planned, including one week free.

They were then asked if they see bigger growth potential in the United States or Worldwide with Barrios noted that probably worldwide in 5-10 years, however the growth in the US is great also. In regards to people who will actually buy the WWE Network, Barrios noted that it was in the 2-3 million range that they mentioned and responded to a question in regards to the response of the launch, noting that the response has been enormous.

They were then asked why the launch of the WWE Network was made for February with Barrios noted that part of the issue was with pay-per-view deals that the company had, but they wanted to get things done in time for the build up to WrestleMania 30, so the decision was made to do it now. Vince said that he hoped that the pay-per-view providers will continue to deliver the WWE pay-per-view events as they always have, while DirecTV’s decision to possibly drop WWE pay-per-view events was mentioned. They were then asked about other partners and how they feel about losing the pay-per-view events, however Barrios said that the company didn’t want to talk further about that. Barrios said that the programming and delivery cost of the Network will be about 10% or equal to $1 if they hit their 2-3 million target.

They were then asked again if ratings might drop and if they are comfortable with losing the pay-per-view money by people moving to the WWE Network and can people join for 6 months and leave. Barrios noted that people can join for 6 months and then decide to leave, however the WWE have the utmost confidence in keeping those subscribers from leaving after 6 months. Barrios said that he has used the WWE Network and said that he feels once people have access to it, they won’t decide to walk away. The next question was in regards to revenue sharing with Roku, Apple and more. Barrios said that the WWE will go within the norms of whatever the carrier uses and was then asked how many subscriptions they expect to come via WWE’s official website alone, which Barrios noted that the WWE expect 1 million subscribers by the end of the year.

The next question was in regards to the expenses for content. Barrios said that it will be a little higher than it has been and estimated an incremental $20m in operational expenses. They were then asked about a yearly discounted price to which Barrios said that there will be a pre-paid annual subscription and that people can also gift the subscription to their friends. They were then asked if they would consider chats with WWE stars for an extra price, however Barrios said that the second-screen experience will allow them to do that and so much more and that all comes with the $9.99 price. They were then asked how they came up with the price and if there could be changes. Barrios said that they wanted to deliver value to their fans, done research and found that the price was the best for the people and for getting those to subscribe. They were then asked if it will make the fans think that house show prices or pay-per-view events should be priced less, to which Barrios responded that he doesn’t. They then announced that there would be no further questions and ended the call.