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Post by Mark 138 on Feb 15, 2008 18:59:19 GMT -5
from slam.ca
"-- It was reported over the weekend that Ring of Honor pay-per-views were recently pulled from airing in Canada because buys were practically non-existant. One of the major cable carriers reportedly only had three dozen (36) pay-per-view buys for a recent show. According to the respective websites for Viewer's Choice Canada and Bell ExpressVu, they have no upcoming showings of Ring of Honor on their systems. Anyway, we have a new ROH pay-per-view buy number, and it relates to a cable provider in the United States. ROH's last pay-per-view, Undeniable, which started airing on January 19, reportedly only had 19 buys through the Dish Network."
Wow, what happened to all the love and support of the internet wrestling comunity? I think this illustrates the need to try to reach beyond a niche audience and attract more mainstream fans if a company wants to be a financial success.
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Post by Havoc on Feb 15, 2008 19:02:15 GMT -5
ROH's last pay-per-view, Undeniable, which started airing on January 19, reportedly only had 19 buys through the Dish Network." Knapik bought the PPV 19 times? |
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Post by darkrider on Feb 15, 2008 19:03:34 GMT -5
Wow i think somebody needs to wake up and smell the coffee.
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Post by Knapik on Feb 15, 2008 19:46:59 GMT -5
Man, Canada sucks.
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Post by Havoc on Feb 15, 2008 20:31:44 GMT -5
Dish also only had 19 US buys. Was that you? |
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Post by hofclemens on Feb 16, 2008 0:29:00 GMT -5
wow. thats real low.. I wonder if the other systems have low #s too
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Post by theamazingbadger on Feb 16, 2008 2:06:16 GMT -5
wow. thats real low.. I wonder if the other systems have low #s too Only if they did a piss poor job of advertising it like they did in Canada. If I wasn't in the habit of checking out wrestling news sites I wouldn't have known there was a PPV at all. In addition to that I don't think Dish network is a big PPV provider here in Canada. |
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Post by Mark 138 on Feb 16, 2008 2:27:05 GMT -5
Only if they did a piss poor job of advertising it like they did in Canada. If I wasn't in the habit of checking out wrestling news sites I wouldn't have known there was a PPV at all. In addition to that I don't think Dish network is a big PPV provider here in Canada. The article states that those are the Dish Network numbers for the United States. I did the research and the numbers are correct. ROH really has done zero to advertise beyond their regular fanbase, which doesn't help them any. But these numbers also indicate that not even the regular fans are paying for the product. That indicates that either the company isn't giving them a good reason to make the purchase, or their fanbase isn't nearly as widespread as some would believe. |
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Post by JMello on Feb 16, 2008 8:50:10 GMT -5
I think they don't put themselves out there enough. Hell, I've gone to two straight ROH shows and didn't know they were on PPV recently.
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Post by Hegemony on Feb 16, 2008 11:13:30 GMT -5
Only if they did a piss poor job of advertising it like they did in Canada. If I wasn't in the habit of checking out wrestling news sites I wouldn't have known there was a PPV at all. In addition to that I don't think Dish network is a big PPV provider here in Canada. The article states that those are the Dish Network numbers for the United States. I did the research and the numbers are correct. ROH really has done zero to advertise beyond their regular fanbase, which doesn't help them any. But these numbers also indicate that not even the regular fans are paying for the product. That indicates that either the company isn't giving them a good reason to make the purchase, or their fanbase isn't nearly as widespread as some would believe. If I buy the DVD (which comes with extra matches btw), why would I also buy the PPV? I may love the company, but I am not going to pay for it twice. The PPV experiment was designed for new customers to sample the product, most of their audience buys the DVDs. It appears obvious though that these new customers just wouldn't sample a product they had limited knowledge of. |
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Post by JamieOD on Feb 17, 2008 5:20:23 GMT -5
It's a shame that it happens like this. I hope the PPV deal isn't a make or break element for ROH. For now they have to stay where they are until they can figure out how to expand their fanbase. Maybe if they start holding more shows outside the Northeast. I know they have an Orlando tour coming up for Wrestlemania weekend.
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Post by offspring515 on Feb 17, 2008 7:10:51 GMT -5
The article states that those are the Dish Network numbers for the United States. I did the research and the numbers are correct. ROH really has done zero to advertise beyond their regular fanbase, which doesn't help them any. But these numbers also indicate that not even the regular fans are paying for the product. That indicates that either the company isn't giving them a good reason to make the purchase, or their fanbase isn't nearly as widespread as some would believe. If I buy the DVD (which comes with extra matches btw), why would I also buy the PPV? I may love the company, but I am not going to pay for it twice. The PPV experiment was designed for new customers to sample the product, most of their audience buys the DVDs. It appears obvious though that these new customers just wouldn't sample a product they had limited knowledge of. Yeah, I think this is the biggest issue. If you like ROH, why pay for the ppv show on demand when you can wait a bit (and ROH fans are used to waiting for the DVD's to come out) and buy the DVD and get more content for roughly the same price? |
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Post by Mark 138 on Feb 17, 2008 7:27:30 GMT -5
Thanks Hegemony and you guys for making me aware of that. It is absolutely stupid that they only market to their fanbase instead of looking to make more people aware of the product. Then on top of that, they release the same show on DVD WITH EXTRAS. Now I understand completely why ROH fans aren't buying the PPVs.
If they could advertise a few shows and use someone with a name value to pop a little buyrate, they might be able to draw in some new fans who'd see and like what they offer.
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Post by hofclemens on Feb 19, 2008 22:14:24 GMT -5
I think by saying right off the bat they weren't putting all their eggs in the PPV basket hurt their ppv product but perhaps not losing all that money will help them out long term.
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Post by Subvert69 on Feb 21, 2008 17:38:35 GMT -5
I'm not making excuses for them but ROH has never toured in Canada so they really don't have a huge market up there.
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Post by Mark 138 on Feb 21, 2008 19:59:47 GMT -5
I'm not making excuses for them but ROH has never toured in Canada so they really don't have a huge market up there. And I'll point out that Dish Network in the United States, ROH's home country, reported only 19 buys. SO, they actually did better in Canada with 36 buys. |
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Post by GOODZILLA on Mar 6, 2008 1:10:29 GMT -5
This is mindblowing.
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Post by Hegemony on Mar 6, 2008 9:49:48 GMT -5
While low PPV numbers are not good news, they are not unexpected either.
The company has no television, is taping shows and presenting them a few months after the fact rather than more expensive live broadcasts, and as mentioned above a large percentage of their regular customers are waiting for the DVDs that feature extra matches rather than pay for the same content twice by ordering PPV.
Furthermore, this venture was not designed to represent the customer base of the company but instead to attempt to reign in a few new fans who may sample the product. These new fans would in turn buy DVDs from the website. PPV was not about buyrates in this instance, but instead a marketing tool to get the name out to more potential customers.
In a crowded PPV marketplace full of live offerings from companies with corporate muscle behind them, ROH was not foolish enough to believe that they were going to blow any one away with their PPV numbers. But if a few loyal customers were made through this experiment, then to them it is a small victory for a small company. The company has reportedly been happy with PPV numbers saying that they were around expectations (and have refuted the "19" buys quoted above) but they were not some sort of blockbuster success in the PPV marketplace. Nor were they expected to be. Unfortunately, they didn't seem to bring hordes of new customers flocking to the company, but it was an experiment and not all experiments are going to succeed beyond expectations. And if a few new customers were made, all the better for the company that risked virtually nothing in the deal. Considering they get all of the money from DVD sales and only a portion (on a cheaper priced) on PPV buys, ROH is still geared towards DVD sales as thier primary revenue generator.
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Post by GOODZILLA on Mar 6, 2008 11:21:32 GMT -5
I agree with all that. But it still seems crazy to me.
(Caution: Exaggeration ahead, proceed with caution) ....
I could get a bunch of friends together, and hold a backyard wrestling event, tape it, and put it on PPV with my local cable company. And I would get more than 19 buys. Just by word of mouth alone.
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Post by Hegemony on Mar 6, 2008 11:42:34 GMT -5
I agree with all that. But it still seems crazy to me. (Caution: Exaggeration ahead, proceed with caution) .... I could get a bunch of friends together, and hold a backyard wrestling event, tape it, and put it on PPV with my local cable company. And I would get more than 19 buys. Just by word of mouth alone. But what if you release your backyard tape a month later on DVD with "extras" such as light-tube wars and "who can jump off of the roof the most times without getting hurt" features? Your buys may go down.  |
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