Below are some news and notes from WWE’s conference call with investors earlier today…
-Linda put over the McMahon’s Million Dollar Mania contest and claimed it increased television ratings by 25 percent.
-Linda touted the new PG rating.
-Live events revenue is up 14 percent.
-Excluding WrestleMania 23, live events attendance was up 17 percent.
-Pay-per-view revenue increased 18 percent compared to the previous quarter (excluding WrestleMania).
-WWE eliminated the New Year’s Revolution event, leaving them with 14 pay-per-view events per year.
-One of the executives noted that there have been declines in the UK, but noted it was nothing alarming.
-One of the executives noted that WWE Fan Nation is the company’s attempt to attract readers who go to other sites for rumors or news.
-Linda said they try not to burn out international markets by going to certain areas too frequently. “We really keep a strong pulse on that marketplace,” she said.
-The court date for the Jakks/THQ lawsuit is scheduled for 2010.
-WWE spent roughly $2.5 million on the Behind Enemy Lines 2 project with Mr. Kennedy. Fox matched that investment, meaning the overall budget was $5 million. She also mentioned they are taking a similar approach with The Marine 2.
-A caller asked about adding more storylines to the non-pay-per-view main event matches. He questioned whether Freddie Prinze Jr. could help in this area. He got a non-answer.
-The same caller asked about the direction of the tag team division. Linda said she doesn’t know. “I do not follow the storyline creations,” she said. She said they don’t tell her because of the surprise factor.
-The same caller asked about ECW being toned down compared to what it once was. “What is the direction you have with ECW to promote more numbers?” he asked. Linda said she’s not an expert in that area. She pointed out that all WWE programming is now PG.
-A caller accused the company of spending money like “drunken sailors” and pushed the executives to explain their spending to “long suffering owners.” He pushed them to explain how they intend to cut back on their spending. He was given a lengthy explanation regarding the new production studio they are working on.
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