WWE held their second quarter conference call earlier today. Michael Weitz opened the call and welcomed people, noting that Vince McMahon and WWE CFO George Barrios will be on the call.

Vince said that the WWE can’t dwell on their performance and noted that they were a little bit below where they thought they would be and said that the company knows what they’re doing and put over the WrestleMania 29 event as the highest grossing PPV event in the company’s history. Vince said that the Total Divas show could help to grow the company’s audience by attracting more women to the product and that an E! executive noted that the show was a home run and that it gives the WWE the opportunity to do more things like Total Divas. Vince said that the ratings for WWE RAW and WWE SmackDown are about the same, however they’ve increased their television viewership overall and then put over upcoming animation projects with WWE Studios as well as the WWE’s partnership with The Bridge Direct. Vince then noted that a John Cena line will debut in KMart and said that the WWE is a safe environment to be associated with and put over the company’s deals with Kraft and Doritos and noted that Fruity Pebbles have renewed their sponsorship with the WWE.

Vince noted that the company is finishing up an overseas tour which has gone well and then put over social media growth, noting that they are a leader in terms of how social media is used and stated that the WWE App has close to 7 million downloads, providing so much viewer interaction that the user doesn’t change the channel and said that it’s more than stats and things that other networks attempt and that they aretrying to teach the audience on how to watch TV again and that no one can do it like they can. Vince then talked about global areas such as the United Kingdom and the WWE’s negotiations in India and noted that they have been undervalued in the United States, however that will not be the case going forward. Vince then put over the recent opening of the WWE Performance Center and the company’s ability to attract so many more individuals from all over the world and said that the company has a good plethora of talent in their developmental system. Vince then said from a financial standpoint, it’s been a lousy quarter, before passing the call over to George Barrios.

Barrios commented on the TV rights fees and put over the debut episode of Total Divas. Barrios noted that WWE Fan Axxess added $2.3m to the live events revenue and that revenue for WWE Studios’ “The Call” won’t be available until later in the year, however they expect to see a profit of $5.9m off an investment of $1m. Barrios noted that cash flow was down, due to an $11m incrase in management compensation an said that their market research is favorable for the WWE Network and noted that over the next 18 months, they expect to renegotiate their largest television rights fees in the United States, United Kingdom and India. The line was then opened up for a question and answer session.

The first caller asked for an update on the WWE Network. Vince McMahon said that all the options were open for them and then talked about TV deals, their renegotiations and the potential WWE Network being tied to all that. George Barrios answered the next question about rising ticket prices and whether they are driving some fans away, which Barrios note that the increases come at the premium seating level range, where as the lowest ticket prices have remained the same overall. The next caller asked Vince to speak about what he’s learned regarding the film industry over the years, to which Vince noted that WWE Studios have tried a lot of models and feel that they have the right model these days, praising Michael Luisi, head of WWE Studios. Vince said that WWE Studios is making money and broadens the WWE brand. The caller then noted that it feels better that the WWE have talent in secondary roles, to which Vince noted that the talent can be the stars of straight to DVD and hopes that the talent has strong supporting roles in the theatrical releases, while they learn how to become the stars.

The next caller commented on the ridiculous programming fees that are being paid for low level sporting events and asked how the WWE couldn’t double what they get from the USA Network for WWE RAW, to which Vince noted that the caller answered his own question and feels that the WWE are poised. They were then asked about what The Rock’s pay was for WrestleMania 29, but refused to reveal noting that they didn’t want to get into the details of who was paid what. They were then asked once again about the WWE Network, to which Vince noted that they get closer with the WWE Network each quarter. Barrios was then asked about WrestleMania and said that when everything is factored in, including WWE Fan Axxess, the profits for WrestleMania 29 were down roughly $1m. The next caller asked about the cost of the WWE Performance Center and the talent costs, to which Barrios said that the spending happened predominantly in the first half of the year. Regarding the TV deals being renegotiated, Vince said that he would allow a caller to apply a hammerlock on him if the WWE don’t deliver in their negotiations for improved TV programming fees.