(Sources: Yahoo! Finance)
STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–July 20, 2005–WWE® announced today that Rogers Cable Inc., the largest cable provider in Canada, is now offering WWE 24/7 to its customers. Rogers becomes the first Canadian cable subscriber to offer a free-standing U.S. subscription video on demand service to Canadian consumers.
“We expect Rogers will be the first of many announcements naming new distributors who will continue WWE 24/7’s momentum into our new operating year,” said Peter Clifford, Vice President, WWE Affiliate Sales. “Rogers really gets the potential of our product, and has thrown considerable resources behind its launch and ongoing marketing. The feedback we keep receiving from our U.S. distributors is that the response to the product has been off-the-charts with their consumers, and we expect that to be true of our Canadian fans as well.”
Since announcing WWE 24/7 last year, WWE has secured agreements to launch the SVOD service in North America with several operators, including Cox Communications, RCN, and Insight, three of the top and most aggressive major cable providers in the United States.
“WWE fans are devoted and now they’ll have the chance to relive some of the very best and hard-to-find classic moments in wrestling history,” said David Purdy, Vice President & General Manager of Television Services, Rogers Cable. “Rogers is excited about offering this new WWE product to our customers.”
Rogers undertook an unprecedented media launch for an SVOD product. WWE Legends “Rowdy” Roddy Piper(TM), Bobby “The Brain” Heenan(TM), Hillbilly Jim(TM) and “Mean” Gene Okerlund(TM) were on hand to help launch WWE24/7 at a live announcement at Rogers headquarters in Toronto this morning with Rogers and WWE officials. The launch announcement was attended by a crowd of passionate WWE fans who won invitations to the launch through a series of radio promotions. Later in the day, the Legends were scheduled to undertake a radio tour with Rogers-owned radio outlets. In the evening, Rogers Cable presents WWE Day at the Toronto Blue Jays baseball game at Rogers Center featuring several interactive elements, including a ceremonial first pitch by some of the Legends and Piper leading the crowd in song during the seventh inning stretch.
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Joe
