WWE issued the following on Monday.
WWE® NETWORK REACHES RECORD 1.82 MILLION SUBSCRIBERS
STAMFORD, Conn., April 4, 2016 – WWE® (NYSE: WWE) today announced that its digital subscription service, WWE Network, reached a record 1.82 million total subscribers following last night’s WrestleMania®, the most viewed WrestleMania in history. This is a 39% increase from March 30, 2015, the day after WrestleMania last year.
“History was made last night with both a record-setting crowd at AT&T Stadium and more households than ever before watching WrestleMania on WWE Network,” said WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon. “WWE Network continues to drive transformative growth for our company.”
“Results today further demonstrate the power of our brand, illustrate our potential to drive long-term growth and provide evidence that we are effectively executing our multi-platform content strategy,” said George Barrios, WWE Chief Strategy & Financial Officer.
WWE Network Subscriber Highlights
WWE Network reached record levels of total subscribers, total domestic subscribers and total international subscribers as of April 4, 2016
Total domestic subscribers increased 24% to 1.39 million; total international subscribers increased 126% to 434,000 from March 30, 2015 – the day after WrestleMania last year
Domestic and international paid subscribers reached 1.11 million and 345,000, respectively as of April 4, 2016
WrestleMania Engagement Milestones
Video views reached 65 million across social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Vine, and YouTube), representing an 87% increase over last year
WrestleMania garnered a record 10.9 million social media fan engagements, up 19% from the prior year
Social media fan engagements are defined as the cumulative fan response to WWE content measured by the number of “likes”, “follows”, “shares”, “mentions”, and “retweets” across social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Tumblr.
WWE 2016 Perspective
Q1 2016: Based upon preliminary data to date, WWE Network attracted an average of approximately 1.29 million paid subscribers over the first quarter 2016, representing a 39% increase from the first quarter 2015 average. The first quarter 2016 average was in-line with guidance of 1.28 million (+/- 2%).5
The Company expects to exceed the high end of the range of its estimated first quarter 2016 Adjusted OIBDA of approximately $19 million reflecting higher performance expectations across its businesses.
Q2 2016: If the acquisition and retention of subscribers is consistent with recent activity, the range of average paid subscribers for the second quarter 2016 would be 1.48 – 1.55 million, representing an increase of approximately 22% – 27% from the second quarter 2015.5 As future subscriber performance may differ from recent trends, this range is provided for perspective rather than as guidance.
(5) Additional information regarding estimated WWE Network subscriber levels can be found in the Company’s website presentation at www.ir.corporate.investors.com.
2016: WWE management continues to believe that if the average paid subscribers to WWE Network increases at a rate between 20% to 25% in 2016, 2016 Adjusted OIBDA could be in a range of approximately $70 million to $85 million. This range assumes the previously communicated incremental investment of $15 million to $20 million in content, technology and emerging markets.