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Tag: WWE RAW

  • Netflix steams ahead with blockbuster Q1 as profits pop; Reed Hastings moves to non-exec chair

    Netflix steams ahead with blockbuster Q1 as profits pop; Reed Hastings moves to non-exec chair

    MUMBAI: Netflix smashed expectations in its first quarter of 2025, raking in $10.54bn in revenue—up nearly 13 per cent from last year—as the streaming titan shifts the spotlight from subscriber counts to cold, hard cash.
    The platform’s earnings per share soared to $6.61, comfortably beating Wall Street’s forecast of $5.71, while net income hit $2.89bn, up from $2.33bn a year ago. Operating income leapt 27 per cent to $3.35bn, pushing the margin up to 31.7 per cent.

    This was Netflix’s first earnings show without revealing its subscriber count, a move designed to pivot focus onto financial muscle and engagement rather than the once-sacrosanct user numbers. With pricing bumped up in key markets and a small but growing ad business, the company managed to woo both viewers and investors alike.

    Shares gained around three per cent in after-hours trading, closing Thursday at a sizzling $973. Netflix also doubled down on its full-year revenue forecast of $43.5bn–$44.5bn, projecting a 15 per cent year-on-year lift for Q2, with a beefier operating margin of 33 per cent.

    By region, the US and Canada contributed $4.62bn (up 9 per cent), EMEA rose 15 per cent to $3.41bn, Latin America clocked $1.26bn (up 8 per cent), while Asia Pacific surged 23 per cent to hit the same $1.26bn mark.
    On the content front, the UK’s moody miniseries Adolescence got a nod for driving eyeballs, alongside action flicks Back in Action, Ad Vitam and Counterattack. WWE’s Monday Night Raw also proved a global hit, cracking the streamer’s weekly top 10 since its January debut.

    The company launched its in-house ad tech platform in the US in April, touting it as a foundation for “enhanced targeting, snazzier formats and programmatic wizardry” in the quarters ahead.

    While economic clouds hover—thanks to tariff turmoil under President Trump 2.0—co-chief executive Greg Peters struck a bullish tone.

    “Based on what we are seeing by actually operating the business right now, there’s nothing really significant to note. We also take some comfort that entertainment historically has been pretty resilient in tougher economic times. Netflix, specifically, also, has been generally quite resilient. We haven’t seen any major impacts during those tougher times, albeit over a much shorter history,”  he said, adding that Netflix’s cheaper ad tier gives it added economic resilience.

    The earnings bonanza was capped off with a curtain call from co-founder Reed Hastings, who stepped down as executive chairman to become a non-executive chair—marking the end of an era for the man who helped binge-watching go mainstream.

    And just to keep Wall Street happy, Netflix threw in some shareholder candy too—buying back 3.7 million shares for $3.5bn and paying down $800m in debt. Still, with $15.1bn in debt on the books and $7.2bn in the bank, the company isn’t quite ready to roll the end credits.

  • Netflix to take a bold step by broadcasting WWE Raw next year

    Netflix to take a bold step by broadcasting WWE Raw next year

    Mumbai: According to a new media report, Netflix will start streaming the WWE program as part of their collaboration with TKO Group Holdings. From the next year, Netflix strategically collaborated with TKO Group Holdings. According to media reports, the regulatory filling company mentioned the tenure of an alleged deal for 10 years valued at $ five million.

    Netflix will air ‘ Raw ‘ as part of a special program. Netflix also has the option to terminate the deal after 5 years and can extend the deal as part of future decisions. Netflix also has exclusive broadcasting rights in the US, Latin America, Canada, Uk.

    According to the latest media reports, Netflix has decided to amplify revenue by cutting subscription prices. For that purpose, Netflix decided to support ad-tier membership plans. It will be the first time, Netflix broadcasts live sports and WWE programs. The company also estimates viewership potentially increases by leveraging its user base.

    In the last few days, OTT platforms decided to expand their viewership across the globe. To make it commercially successful many OTT platforms are started with an Ad supported revenue model. As a part of covering cost exercise, this model has also worked to face stiff competition in OTT platforms.

    Giants like Amazon (Amazon miniTV) also have many Indian OTT platforms like Aha, Zee 5, and many others rolled out such plans earlier. Netflix is considered a premium entertainment app and generally, it is believed that Netflix costs more compared to other OTT subscription plans worldwide.

    To enhance financial strength Netflix started to support ad tier membership plans. This will be a mutually beneficial coalition between Netflix and TKO group holdings. Earlier Netflix was focused on original GEC content including web series, movies, and documentaries.

    Now taking one step further, Netflix elevated its commercial base by introducing such live sports streaming on its platform. As per media sources, Netflix also plans to develop new content that is in line with and similar to WWE sports.

    According to many industry experts, advertising-based videos on demand (ADOV) will grow faster in the upcoming two years. These ad-supported models provide economies of scale benefits to the platform simultaneously with existing audiences on particular OTT platforms getting access to sports content. This move helps larger popular sports broadcasters like WWE to secure better viewership.

    As an aggregator platform for national, and international content, this proactive step taken by Netflix can encourage other OTT players to upgrade its offerings.

    According to media reports, Netflix can also become a favorite stop destination for WWE shows like SmackDowns, NXT, and Wrestle Mania. The paradigm shift of Netflix from GEC to a Sports streaming platform lies in commercial factors.

    Lastly, Netflix is estimated to secure a position to ensure sports broadcasting which will cater predominantly to Gen Z and Sports fans worldwide.

  • LIVE Hindi Commentary Returns for WWE® RAW™, SmackDown™, NXT™ and Pay-Per-Views on Sony Ten 3 Channels

    LIVE Hindi Commentary Returns for WWE® RAW™, SmackDown™, NXT™ and Pay-Per-Views on Sony Ten 3 Channels

    Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN), the exclusive broadcast partner for WWE in India, announces the return of LIVE Hindi commentary for WWE’s weekly flagship shows RAW, SmackDown and NXT plus all Pay-Per-View special events starting with Backlash™ airing on Monday, June 15.

    WWE fans in India can tune-in to SONY TEN 3 channels to catch their favourite WWE Superstars in action with Hindi commentary, while SONY TEN 1 continues to be the destination for WWE with English commentary.

    In addition, SPSN will also live telecast one of WWE’s biggest pay-per-view events, Backlash, in Hindi and English on Monday, June 15. This year’s event will be bigger than ever as viewers will witness Randy Orton™ take on Edge™, reigniting their rivalry in The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever. The event will also see Drew McIntyre™ defend his WWE Championship title against Bobby Lashley™; Braun Strowman™ against The Miz™ and John Morrison™ in a Universal Champion Handicap Match and Raw Women’s Champion Asuka™ defending her title against Nia Jax™ with more matches to be announced.

    Since 2018, Raw and SmackDown have been telecast in Hindi and starting next week, for the first time ever, WWE NXT will also be made available with Hindi commentary to viewers in India. WWE RAW, SmackDown and NXT are home to some of the biggest WWE Superstars such as Randy Orton™, Drew McIntyre™, Roman Reigns™, Braun Strowman™, Charlotte Flair™, Finn Bálor™ and many more.

    WWE Backlash will be aired in India on Monday, June 15 from 4.30am only on SONY TEN 1 and SONY TEN 3 (Hindi) channels

    WWE RAW will be telecast live and exclusive in India every Tuesday only on SONY TEN 1 and SONY TEN 3 (Hindi) channels from 5.30 am.

    WWE NXT will be telecast live and exclusive in India every Thursday only on SONY TEN 1 and SONY TEN 3 (Hindi) channels from 5.30 am.

    WWE SmackDown will be telecast live and exclusive in India every Saturday only on SONY TEN 1 and SONY TEN 3 (Hindi) channels from 5.30 am.

  • WWE Live to make a comeback in India; Ten Sports plans aggressive marketing

    WWE Live to make a comeback in India; Ten Sports plans aggressive marketing

    NEW DELHI: Even as TNA is bringing its Impact Wrestling live event to Mumbai this December, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is gearing up to bring some of the top names in wrestling to perform live in Delhi this coming January.

    The event, which will be held at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on 15 and 16 January, 2016, marks the comeback of WWE Live in India after a span of 13 years. WWE Raw was last held in India in November 2002.

    The legendary Danial Bryan, one of WWE’s brand names, who is temporarily out of action under medical advice, was here along with WWE president international Gerrit Meier and Taj TV and Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi to announce the event.

    Sethi said they were expecting a full house at the stadium, which can seat approximately 20,000 people.

    On the other hand, with its eyes focused on the lucrative Indian market, WWE is also planning to build consumer parks in India in the near future, informed Meier. It may be recalled that the company launched its video streaming service WWE Network in the Indian sub-continent a few days back.

    For the live event in Delhi, WWE and Ten Sports will be aggressively marketing it with a significant amount of investment. While declining to reveal expected revenue figures, Sethi said that around five to seven per cent of the total investment in the live event will go into marketing.

    So far five sponsors have been roped in for the live event, whereas negotiations were on with as many as 15 more brands. However, Sethi refused to divulge any names. 

    The two-day live event, which will feature WWE SmackDown and WWE Raw, will see names like John Cena, Dean Ambrose, Big Show, Sheamus, Cesaro and Ryback. Tickets are priced between Rs 1699 – 7999. While the sale of a limited number of tickets was done today, the rest will be sold from 10 November onwards.

    When queried as to why there were no prominent Indians in WWE, Meier said that this kind of wrestling required a lot of training and some US-based Indians were currently under training and may soon be seen on screen.

    According to Meier, India had been chosen for the live event because of the large number of WWE fans in the country. “WWE holds around 440 events every year and we’ve held events in countries like Japan and Malaysia but India is a major market for us,” he said.

    What’s more, WWE is also expecting fans from neighbouring countries like Pakistan to come to India for this live event.

    On the television front, by offering a compelling storyline each week, WWE was largely skewed towards the family audience and Meier said that they had found the right partners in Ten Sports and Zee Cinema. The telecast on both the channels had gained popularity and was one the major reasons for WWE renewing the telecast agreement with the broadcasters through 2019. WWE and Ten Sports began their association in India in 2003.

    While the WWE telecast on Ten Sports received a lot of traction from viewers, Sethi said that the reason to bring it on Zee Cinema in Hindi was because WWE was now perceived as family entertainment. “We live telecast some WWE events on Ten Sports from the US. Moreover, Zee Cinema has helped take this event to the hinterland and expand the viewer base with the Hindi dubbing. Zee Cinema is one of the five top movie channels in India and reaches 150 million homes. As WWE is now considered as entertainment, it was only justified that it should be on a movie channel,” he added.

  • Ten Sports undisputed leader in sports TV viewership courtesy WWE

    Ten Sports undisputed leader in sports TV viewership courtesy WWE

    MUMBAI: Ten Sports has been dominating sports television ratings week after week with the only exception being when team India hits the lush green cricket field and another broadcaster is relaying it. That’s the only time when Ten Sports loses the top berth. 

    So what helps the channel garner such high ratings? In three powerful words, it’s the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

    As per S-group (an analytical arm of TAM media research) analysis, Ten Sports is the leader in the sports genre with average weekly viewership of 28 GRPs in the last four weeks. The closest competitor this week was Sony Six, which garnered half the viewership.

     

     

    Ten Sports global CEO Rajesh Sethi and his programming team are the main reason behind that. Repetitiveness is the biggest enemy of quality content, it kills the flair and develops a scenario of same programme, different day. However, the smart programming strategy of Sethi and team has successfully managed to avoid that for over a decade now.

     

    Close to 85 per cent of Ten Sports’ viewership comes from the telecast of WWE matches alone with a duration dedication of only 25 per cent.

     

     

    Sethi asserts, “Ten Sports Network has been the home of World Wrestling Entertainment in India since 2002. Over this period, WWE broadcast has evolved significantly with an increased focus to deliver quality to viewers. The broadcast delay from USA to India has completely been reduced. Ten Sports is now offering WWE RAW live in India. The initial inhibitions that the time difference will affect viewership numbers has been dispelled with very good ratings for the Live airing, which airs Tuesday mornings at 5.30 am India Time.”

     

    Ten Sports has sealed a five-year deal with WWE, which makes the fight sport their exclusive asset till 2019. Both Ten Sports and WWE came together in recent times to launch numerous on-ground initiatives to popularize the sport in India.

     

    “The new agreement between WWE and Ten Sports has seen a host of new initiatives taken by the broadcaster. New shows have been introduced with Ten Sports bringing popular show Main Event to India from January of this year. NXT, which brings the best action from upcoming WWE Superstars and Total Divas, a WWE reality show have been getting a major push from a marketing standpoint and not only existing viewers are taking to this programme but these shows are helping cater to new audiences,” adds Sethi.

     

    He further informs, “RAW and Smackdown, the established marquee shows of WWE continues to garner great ratings. With prime time airings getting ratings of almost 1 TVR, we can safely say that WWE has established itself as a leader in sports entertainment. These numbers are second only to LIVE India Cricket and WWE is closing this gap as well. Ten Sports reaches around 150 million households across the Indian sub-continent and garnering such ratings in a very diverse and unique market like India for an American product like the WWE speaks volumes to what Ten Sports has done over time to making this product acceptable at first to an Indian to now becoming a part of the viewer’s habit.”

     

    Ten Sports has started offering these flagship shows in shorter versions, including a customized one hour RAW programme called RAW Sunday Dhamaal.

     

    RAW Sunday Dhamaal is positioned as a weekend premier show with a local flavour tailor-made for the Indian audience. There has been a new studio designed solely for the show with popular faces anchoring the show. Bollywood is a religion in India and Raw Sunday Dhamaal has consistently been using Bollywood and top celebrities to engage fans and add a new flavour to the shows. This marriage between WWE and Bollywood has seen celebrities including Akshay Kumar, Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor in the RAW Sunday Dhamaal studios. WWE Superstar and 2015 Money In The Bank winner, Sheamus will also make an appearance on RAW Sunday Dhamaal soon.

     

    “WWE in other languages and a push on digital platforms is also priority for Ten Sports. Smackdown has launched in Hindi and this weekend airing is being well accepted by new viewers. With India being such a diverse market, Ten Sports is targeting a specific territory by territory approach to launching shows in different languages. Ten Sports and Zee Group, whose channels have a presence across 650 million households across the world will use group regional channels and will in due course, broadcast more WWE shows across multiple languages creating an increased affinity towards WWE. This approach will take WWE to the hinterlands wooing a new, non-traditional viewer base. On the digital front, VOD offerings on tensports.com along with leveraging social media from increased interaction and engagement with fans are the priority areas,” he informs.

     

    Fans selected through contests have been rewarded with the opportunity to not only interact with WWE superstars and divas but travel to watch WWE LIVE events across the globe.

     

    Further, as per the analysis carried out below, the viewership coming from WWE matches has been on an increasing trend for the past four years. From 5.7 GRPs in 2012, WWE obtains 9.2 GRPs per week in 2015. This analysis has been done for every 1000 minutes of WWE telecast so as to normalize the duration factor.

     

     

    The ad rate of a 10-second slot during normal WWE programming fluctuate between Rs 60,000 – 80,000 while for a Wrestlemania or Summerslam sometimes it touches Rs 1 lakh mark too informs a source closely dealing with WWE’s media planning.

     

    Baseline director & co-founder R Ramakrishnan feels that WWE is here to grow. “WWE is an evolving property, not only television viewership but licensing and merchandising will also grow. Live events will play a vital role in the growth. We saw Big Shaw and John Cena travelling to India and both Ten Sports and WWE will endeavor in launching several new initiatives. Credit must be given to Ten Sports for smartly handling the property over the years,” he opines.

     

    WWE is one of the very few American sports, which is widely spoken about in India. Kids start with WWE card games and then gradually with age change to Playstation and X-box. After United States and United Kingdom, India is the largest market for WWE. Khali’s induction in the sport has already raised the bar and got more people talking about the sport India.

     

    Overall World Wrestling Entertainment has a lot of room for growth and Ten Sports will certainly leave no stones unturned to generate as much revenue as they can from the sport.