World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., Clears First Terrestrial TV Deal In Italy With Sale to Berlusconi’s Italia Uno
STAMFORD, Conn., Oct 13, 2003 (BUSINESS WIRE) — World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE) WWE Makes TV and PPV Sales Strides in Latin America and Asia Pacific
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE) has secured its first terrestrial deal in Italy with the sale of 52 hours of WWE’s highly rated WWE SmackDown!(R) to Berlusconi’s Italia Uno. The company has also made several new deals for free-to-air broadcast and Pay TV in Latin America and Asia Pacific. The new sales of first run episodes total more than 1,000 hours.
“We are delighted to have finalized our new terrestrial deal in Italy as it greatly complements our existing output deals on the Pay TV platforms,” said Andrew Whitaker, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, International Television for World Wrestling Entertainment (International) Ltd. “Additionally, our new deals in Latin America and Asia reflect the impact that our programming offers worldwide, even in the current marketplace when acquisition budgets are at minimal levels. We respect and appreciate our buyers confidence in WWE’s programming and are certain that our branded product will deliver the anticipated advertising, subscription and viewership results.”
In addition to the sale to Italia Uno, WWE also has signed a significant deal with Chilevision, the broadcast television station in Chile, for more than 100 hours of WWE’s flagship titles WWE Raw(R) and WWE SmackDown!(R). Chilevision is part of Claxson Interactive, one of Latin America’s most successful multiplatform programming companies that operates under the Cisneros Group umbrella of companies.
Other deals in Latin America include a renewal with Ecuavisa, the leading free-to-air broadcaster in Ecuador, for a total of 134 hours of programming, including Raw, SmackDown! and the 12 yearly WWE Specials. WWE also has completed a renewal deal for Pay TV with MVS in Mexico for 88 hours of programming, including Raw and 12 yearly WWE Specials. MVS is the leading Pay TV platform in Mexico with a subscriber base of more than two million. Bolivision, the second most popular station in Bolivia, has renewed a deal with WWE for 52 hours of Raw for free-to-air broadcast.
In Asia, the company has signed a deal with TV3, which is currently the number one leading terrestrial broadcaster in Malaysia, to renew SmackDown! and Bottom Line for free-to-air broadcast for a total of 208 hours. SmackDown! is the highest rated English speaking program in Malaysia. WWE also signed a three-year renewal deal with ASTRO in Malaysia, the largest multichannel TV platform in Asia, for 420 hours of programming, including its leading title Raw and the 12 yearly WWE Specials.
Acknowledging that pay-per-view sales are the fastest growing sector for the company, WWE has added Japan to the Global rollout of WWE pay-per-view. Sky Perfect TV has signed a new three-year deal to air the 12 yearly WWE Specials on pay-per-view for a total of 36 hours. Sky Perfect is the largest Pay TV platform in Japan whose predominant equity stakeholder is Jupiter Communications.
Recently, WWE has signed new pay-per-view deals with Main Event in Australia, Sky TV in New Zealand and Showtime in the Middle East. All three pay-per-view deals are for the 12 WWE yearly pay-per-views, including the top-rated “WrestleMania XX(R),” “WWE SummerSlam(R),” “WWE Royal Rumble(R),” and “WWE Survivor Series(R).”
“Many people do not realize that WWE is the number one pay-per-view provider in the world,” said Whitaker. “We currently distribute our pay-per-view events to more than 100 countries. In fact, in fiscal year 2003, our pay-per-view programs generated revenues of approximately US $91 million.”
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE) is an integrated media and entertainment company headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Toronto and London. Additional information on the company can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For additional information on WrestleMania XX, to be broadcast live on pay-per-view from Madison Square Garden in New York City on March 14, 2004, go to wrestlemania.wwe.com.
Trademarks: The names of all World Wrestling Entertainment televised and live programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans and wrestling moves and all World Wrestling Entertainment logos are trademarks, which are the exclusive property of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.
Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include the conditions of the markets for live events, broadcast television, cable television, pay-per-view, Internet, entertainment, professional sports, and licensed merchandise; acceptance of the Company’s brands, media and merchandise within those markets; uncertainties relating to litigation; risks associated with producing live events both domestically and internationally; uncertainties associated with international markets; and other risks and factors set forth from time to time in Company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results could differ materially from those currently expected or anticipated.
