WWE held their second quarter 2017 earnings conference call today. Michael Weiss welcomed everyone on the call and introduced WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, George Barrios and Michelle Wilson, noting that all three would be on the call.

Vince McMahon praised the quarter and put over Paul Levesque (Triple H) for all his work on the company’s women’s division, including the Mae Young Classic Tournament and acknowledged that they are growing a female audience, stating that it was something that they have not necessarily done well in the past, but that they are changing and evolving that and said that the quarter hours show that fans are responding to the female talents that the company have. Vince then put over the new localized shows in the Middle East and India and said that the WWE are seeking to do a similar series in other markets, before praising the digital view, which he said is part of the WWE’s strategy.

Vince passed things over to George Barrios who recapped the quarter’s numbers. Michelle Wilson said that they had great progress in the second quarter and that they have had increased monetization of their content with their difference partners and platforms and that WWE Network produced 75 hours of new content including 205 Live and the WWE United Kingdom special. Michelle pushed the Mae Young Classic, noting that it will debut next month and also pushed the localized programming for the Middle East and India. Wilson noted that The Bella Twins’ YouTube channel has since double in subscribers and that the company will debut a Snapchat series later this year and are working with a new company to build new global partnerships, before noting that they launched the new WWE Tap Mania mobile game with Sega last week. Wilson then opened up the floor for questions.

The first question asked if there were any investments that they did not see a positive return from. George Barrios answered that and said that they invest looking for a long-term return and take their time, noting that they feel that they have more areas that they can invest in than not and that they are seeking to drive future growth, before noting that they are not at a loss for opportunities to invest. The next question asked about blue chip advertisers. Michelle Wilson answered and said that they remain one of the few opportunities for advertisers that is TV-PG and she feels that advertisers have a better idea of what they are about now and that they are working to secure more global sponsors via their partnership with Lagardére Sports as that is something that they have not been able to do thus far at the level that they want.

The next question asked about the international shows and how they are doing. It was noted that they are looking at doing more, with all three praising the shows. The next question asked about how the company plan on getting the WWE Network subscribers up. George Barrios said that they are getting smarter at communicating to their subscribers and that they have a lot of ideas and that they are going to continue to provide new, fun content for subscribers, stating that direct-to-consumer over the next 10 years is a big opportunity for the company. The next question asked about the idea of moving WWE programming to a digital platform, such as Facebook, when the rights come up, to which George Barrios said that WWE RAW and SmackDown Live are their biggest and most profitable revenue stream and that is their biggest monetization. Barrios said that when they look at different platforms, they look at whether their fans are there and whether they would consume long-form content there. Barrios said that they thought 5-7 years ago that they staked out a position with social and digital platforms, as well as direct-to-consumer and he feels that eventually, those platforms will mean as much as television does now and that is why they are placing themselves there, because of that eventuality. Barrios said that they continue to look at localized programming as a way to grow revenue in different areas and that they want to look at ways to build personalized content for subscribers, such as delivering them content for their favorite talent, with Barrios describing the success of the show in India as a big win for the WWE.

The next question asked where things stand with the United Kingdom brand as a weekly series and touring brand. George Barrios said that they have places to invest and that includes creating new content globally, as well as data and analytics. Barrios said that they are good at trying things and will continue to play with that and try to build upon it. The next question asked how big of an opportunity the relationship with Lagardére Sports is in terms of global sponsorships. Michelle Wilson said that they have great relationships in international markets and that they see the opportunity in working with WWE, but that they are looking at working, at first, with companies that have international reach who they are already working with. The next question asked about a breakdown of original content for the WWE Network. George Barrios said that they have produced about 300 hours of original content for the WWE Network per year and some hours are more expensive than others, which shifts some of the money from quarter to quarter.

The next question asked about the WrestleMania promotion and how that worked in terms of holding on to WWE Network subscribers this year. George Barrios said that they used that as a big funnel system since it is a big period for the company, but declined to give any further details. The next question asked about the new business models for things such as Snapchat and YouTube, to which George Barrios did not want to get into specifics, but noted that they have done both revenue sharing and licensing fees and the trend seems to be that some of these digital platforms will eventually pay for licensing, but they are not there yet. Michelle Wilson said that they are looking at it as building partnerships with companies they work with, such as KFC and Cricket Wireless who want something beyond just 30 second commercials. The next question asked about the drop in the WWE Network subscriber numbers and whether they were elevated. George Barrios said that it has only been 3 years, but that they have learned the Q2 churn is higher because you are dealing with an influx of people who want to watch WrestleMania. The next question asked about the progress in China as of late, to which they noted that they are only doing one line show per year. The same caller asked the question about the appetite for content in China and the potential of doing more live events in the country. George Barrios said that they are not going to get into individual countries, but that they are in an early days era for China, stating that it has moved from an early developing market for them into something that they are starting to monetize and said that they are putting more boots on the ground with that and it is something that they are working on, but they only have so many days per year that they can tour and they have to make choices, because they are a popular product in every country on Earth.