WWE’s new streaming service may smash a chair on the back of cable companies

Digital Trends reports:

The WWE is transforming itself from a sports-like organization that broadcasts on network TV to the most complex Internet TV service we’ve ever seen. It’s app even has built-in second screen experiences so you can look at information on a tablet or phone while you stream content on your TV. WWE believes in the Net so much that it’s risking its entire pay-per-view business – a technology that it helped pioneer with the first WrestleMania in 1985.

The service is a life-threatening gamble because pay-per-view events have been a fundamental part of WWE’s business model since the days of Hulk Hogan, and people still buy them. More than a million people paid a combined $72 million to watch WrestleMania 29 in April 2013. For reference, the WWE only pulled in about $480 million total revenue in 2012. If this streaming network fails, its unlikely that WWE could return to its old ways and charge $45 to $55 for a pay-per-view. That kind of money seems far too high for an increasingly digital audience. The entire brand would be devalued.

An important article for anyone interested in media.