WWE reported the results of the Second Quarter 2019 today. Here are the key numbers:
- Revenues down 5% to $268.9 million from $281.6 million the same quarter in 2018
- Lower revenue from the Company’s Media, Live Events and Consumer Products business segments
- WWE Network average paid subscribers were 1.69 million paid subscribers
- Operating income was $17.1 million; Adjusted OIBDA1 was $34.6 million
- Domestic TV ratings for Raw declined 14% in the first quarter 2019 from the prior year quarter
- Domestic TV ratings for SmackDown declined 13% in the first quarter 2019
- WWE Shop merchandise sales sunk 18.5% in Q2
- Consumption of WWE content across digital AVOD platforms rose from a year-over-year increase of 23% in the first quarter
- Digital video views increased 17% to 9.0 billion; hours consumed increased 22% to 324 million hours across digital platforms; and social media followers increased 10% to over 1.02 billion
“During the quarter, we made progress on key strategic initiatives,” stated WWE CEO Vince McMahon. “We completed content distribution agreements in key international markets, prepared for the next phase of our WWE Network service, and achieved steady improvement in engagement metrics. As indicated previously, we remain excited about the future, particularly with our debut on Fox in October.”
George Barrios, Co-President, added “In the quarter, our earnings exceeded guidance, however we anticipate a portion of this to reverse and we continue to target full-year Adjusted OIBDA of at least $200 million. The guidance presupposes the staging of a second large scale international event and the completion of a media rights deal in the MENA region. As we optimize near-term results, we will continue to focus on content creation, localization and digitization, including the evolution of our direct-to-consumer network, to drive long-term growth.”
You can read the full press release here.
