New WWE TV deal for UK & IRL

Gonzo

World Wresting Entertainment And BSKYB Sign Unprecedented Five-Year Television Deal Monday October 4, 10:15 am ET New Agreement Provides Extensive WWE Programming in the UK

STAMFORD, Conn. & LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 4, 2004--World Wrestling Entertainment®, Inc. (NYSE:WWE - News) has expanded its 18-year relationship with British Sky Broadcasting (LSE:BSY.L - News) in the UK, signing a new five-year distribution agreement for WWE's weekly programming, and pay-per-view specials, which takes effect in January 2005. Under the new agreement, B SKY B - which provides WWE® programming to more than 10 million households in the UK and Republic of Ireland - will carry all nine first run hours of WWE's seven weekly programs. WWE RAW®, WWE SmackDown!(TM), WWE Heat(TM), WWE Velocity(TM), WWE Bottom Line(TM), and WWE After Burn(TM) on Sky Sports Channel, and WWE Experience(TM) on Sky One. Six monthly Specials will also be shown on Sky Sports.

B SKY B will show eight events annually on Sky Box Office, including perennial favorites WrestleMania®, Royal Rumble®, Summerslam® and Survivor Series®.

Shane McMahon, Executive Vice President, WWE Global Media, hailed the new agreement as the start of an expanded presence in the UK. "We value the UK market, and see it as a natural stepping off point for furthering expansion of the WWE brand around the world," said McMahon. "We have had a long and beneficial partnership with B SKY B. WWE is excited about our expanding relationship and the business opportunities it offers."

Andrew Whitaker, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, WWE International Television Distribution, added, "The new agreement takes WWE and B SKY B into a third decade of business together. There is no greater testimony to the mutually beneficial nature of this special relationship. We look forward to further expanding our programming and presence in the UK working with B SKY B."

Vic Wakeling, Managing Director of Sports at B SKY B, said: "WWE Wrestling has been with us since our network began and a generation of fans have enjoyed their events and weekly shows on Sky. Now we can offer our viewers WWE for the next five years - and we'll have more shows for them, too."

savemejebus

ppvs on sky box office, i mean i knew it was coming but well that sucks, bang goes my sky sports subscription and hello bittorent

Roar

and we'll have more shows for them, too."

but only if you pay for it....

maybe some sort of mass boycott of their PPVs would make Sky reconsider? it was all well and good having all the crap PPVs AS PPVs, but Wrestlemania? The Royal Rumble? That's just taking the piss. we pay enopugh for sky as it is, and now they want to charge us even more? enough i say, i'm going to write an angry worded email to sky, i urge ye all to do the same

jesusjones

This sucks its not Skys fault its WWES demanding more money as usual I cant believe this....

Ph3n0m

and I cant believe people are moaning about actually paying for PPV events.

We in Ireland and the UK have been very bloody fortunate to have been in reciept of PPVs for the past god knows how many years - FREE OF CHARGE.

And now that Sky/WWE will be looking for a fee for these PPV's from now on - there is no suprise in that, since we are one of the few countries that got them for free - everyone else pays for them.

Everyone now have the choice - if you want a PPV buy it, if you dont, then dont buy it - but there is no point in moaning, or doing petitions, or any of that useless crap that relates to wrestling/Sky/wwe - they are a business, for every one person that sayus they wont pay, you can bet your ass that there are atleast 4 others that will pay and with those odds Sky will make the profits and others will enjoy the PPVs while the non-payer will lose out.

Cactus Col

Actually, there's plenty of reason to moan, people are being charged more for what they were already paying for, remember sky sports is not subscription free. (although I never bothered with sky sports and so haven't been watching ppv's anyway).

I just hope that they smackdown is staying on sky one, because by the way that article was written, only wwe expereince seems to be on sky one, and that aint cool at all

Mossy Monk

25 quid at 1am? might be fine for some but all i can say is **** that :mad: :mad:

what the hell is wwe experience anyway?

D-FENS

The whole reason this has happened is because Sky and WWE know people will pay, i know i will even though i'm being ripped off, such is my love for the game ( I mean wrestling not HHH )
Everyone said the same thing about Premiership Plus when it started , but they still pay for it or go to the pub to watch it and spend more than the price Sky ask for.

Speaking of which, Sky should offer a "Season ticket" for all the planned PPV's next year similar to the one they do for the footy.
At least that way you could see them for a combined lower price than paying for them seperate...

Roar

Mossy Monk wrote:

25 quid at 1am? might be fine for some but all i can say is **** that :mad: :mad:

yup.

although with a few friends paying a fiver each, and a video recorder or sky+, then maybe it wouldnt be so bad. watch it on monday night then.

however, one of the reasons i ordered sky digital was to watch wrestling. my sky subscription costs me €62.50 a month. and if i want to watch a PPV, that means i have to fork out another 25 quid every second month or so. 62 quid a month isn't a small amount of money.i think it's a downright farce that Sky are pretty much saying "fcuk 'em, let's try and get more from the suckers".

to say i'm p!ssed off is an understatement

Zombienosh

all i can say is
**** sky and **** wwe
**** whoever is lookin for more money the miserable bastards
*shakes a ****ing fist*
:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

Magnolia_Fan

well another way you could look at it is that your paying 20 cent a day for each channel (Sky Sports1, Sky Sports2, Sky Sports3 and Sky Extra)

Magnolia_Fan

Note: I suck at maths so I could be wrong

Gonzo

this new deal will actually work out better for some people.. their are alot of people who subscribe to sky sports simply coz they love wwe and thats often the only reason they have skysports... many of these people including myself will now drop skysports from their monthly bill and instead pay for a ppv if its really good...often when theres a crap card on its hardly worth watchin for free and definitely not worth paying for... the only ones worth paying for are royal rumble, wrestlemania, summerslam and survivor series.. if you just paid for them by ppv it wud be cheaper than your entire sky sports subscription for the year... having m8's come over to half/quarter the price is also a great idea and takes away alot of the pain of paying.

Magnolia_Fan

In Canada they show P.P.V's in cinemas..Its a great idea but I think its illegal here. Imagine an actual atmospher when watching any sports including wrestling. They are actually charging for the P.P.V's?...I missed that I thought you were just bitchin cus of the cost of subscrition

Skud

the mates idea is the norm in america i believe these days, wwe charge over the odds in the states and only way some can afford it, don't be surprised if the price of the ppvs goes up

savemejebus

Gonzo wrote:

if you just paid for them by ppv it wud be cheaper than your entire sky sports subscription for the year... having m8's come over to half/quarter the price is also a great idea and takes away alot of the pain of paying.

true but without sky sports we have no raw, crappy edited smackdown and the diluted kiddie shows which are now so bad i think they edited out a ddt last weekend
:eek:

gimmick

There are only a certain amount of free to air PPVs which are worth it anyway. Remember - Survivor Series (i think) and Royal Rumble have both been actual PPV events now for a while.

Lets be honest now, howmany people with Sky stayed up to see No Mercy, or Unforgiven. Hell, even SummerSlam was crap this year.

I for one will have no probs in shelling out to Roar (tight arse!!) my share to watch the Rumble/Wrestlemania.

Magnolia_Fan

I stayed up till the end of Cena v Booker T then recorded...but someone changed the channel!..so me Survivor Series is free...I think

D-FENS

savemejebus wrote:

true but without sky sports we have no raw, crappy edited smackdown and the diluted kiddie shows which are now so bad i think they edited out a ddt last weekend
:eek:

Those edits are ridicolous , they blotted out HHH hitting Shelton with the belt at the weekend, then showed him giving the pedigree on the outside of the ring.

What's that supposed to say to kids? - don't hit each other with objects but ramming your friend into a concrete floor face first is just good honest adolescent horseplay?

As for just ordering the PPV's ( i would'nt do that anyway, i wanna see all the action every week ) , do you not have to have normal sky before you can order Box office?

If you look at it this way - 4 Raws, 4 Smackdowns, 4 Heats , 4 Velocities and a PPV a month at € 62.50 plus € 23 for PPV ( I THINK ) , works out at approx. € 2.40 per hour of WWE.

Does'nt sound that bad then, if you really love WWE

Fozzy

D-FENS wrote:

If you look at it this way - 4 Raws, 4 Smackdowns, 4 Heats , 4 Velocities and a PPV a month at € 62.50 plus € 23 for PPV ( I THINK ) , works out at approx. € 2.40 per hour of WWE.

I wouldn't say most people watch Heat and Velocity, so it would work out at €4.50 per hour for those people. Kinda steep I think.

Although it is really only fair that we have to pay for PPV's. Afterall, they are PAY per views. We've had such a good deal for years, we should really just be glad we still get some for free.

Still wish I didn't have to pay for any though..

oneofakind32

D-FENS wrote:

Those edits are ridicolous , they blotted out HHH hitting Shelton with the belt at the weekend, then showed him giving the pedigree on the outside of the ring.

What's that supposed to say to kids? - don't hit each other with objects but ramming your friend into a concrete floor face first is just good honest adolescent horseplay?

As for just ordering the PPV's ( i would'nt do that anyway, i wanna see all the action every week ) , do you not have to have normal sky before you can order Box office?

If you look at it this way - 4 Raws, 4 Smackdowns, 4 Heats , 4 Velocities and a PPV a month at € 62.50 plus € 23 for PPV ( I THINK ) , works out at approx. € 2.40 per hour of WWE.

Does'nt sound that bad then, if you really love WWE

If your on ntl you can get it for €40. Are you sure u didnt include skymovie in that € 62.50. If SD! is still on Sky One Ill be cutting of skysports too. They will have to keep somthing on sky1 to sell the PPVs

elvis2002

i may buy wrestlemania but probably not anything else if randy ortan v hhh is not the main event that is, internet is enough for me, you can usually download a ppv on a tuesday anyways for FREE!..