first, since i just found this out browsing an old mutual's twitter timeline1: LMAO WHAT???? HUH????
i hadn't even considered that their TV deal with USA didn't end at the end of the year. the article notes there being an imminent announcement regarding this, but i'm so confused about what it could be. surely it's not just going on netflix early? why would they have signed the deal like this if that's the case? the only other thing i can think of is that they'd just put it on peacock. which... works, i guess?
but surely that's gonna fuck with their build to survivor series, and in turn, weaken their builds to the rumble and mania? there's no way raw maintains its popularity in this transition, it'll definitely take some kind of hit before recovering once people settle into its home on streaming platforms. so... what does that show look like? are all the important parts of the build going to happen on smackdown, or are they going to try to condition people to be watching on streaming services? i don't even know what the right choice would be here. i kinda think the right choice is "don't put yourself in this situation" but i guess the prize of the FIVE BILLION FUCKING DOLLAR netflix deal is worth the hit
this feels like another instance of WWE not really caring about the fan experience because they've already got paid. oh no, they won't be on tv! it's harder for fans to watch! so? FIVE BILLION DOLLARS
this netflix/wwe thing is just very funny to me because i feel like all i've heard about for the past 5 years is netflix struggling
hold on i just realized this is a perspective from 2021
okay hi it's me 15 minutes after writing that last line having done research to make sure my information wasn't out of date and: it is! kind of
apparently netflix is back on the rise lately, despite me never hearing anything good about them and the only things i remember ever hearing are "more people are unsubscribing than subscribing, nobody cares about shows that get cancelled immediately, people are genuinely very upset about losing password sharing because they don't think the service is actually worth what they're charging, and also they keep fucking raising the prices" alongside netflix touting complete bullshit like people watching 500 billion hours of Red Notice which is nonsense considering it had zero cultural impact whatsoever other than being stuck in my brain as an example of netflix telling bold-faced lies
it makes a lot of sense to finally move wrestling away from traditional TV. TV was already dying when i first started watching in 2014. it feels weird to be the only person i know who regularly watches a fuckin' actual TV show. and i guess from that lens, there isn't really much of a better place than netflix. but it has been years since i've personally seen netflix as The Place To Be. if i didn't share a family subscription i would absolutely not have netflix. i don't know how to describe it because, logically, i don't think there was going to be a better place to land, but this also feels like a move that came years too late?
i don't know. i don't know enough about The Streaming Landscape to really make judgments on how effective a move this is going to be. and honestly, with WWE also (supposedly? i don't care to go compare their metrics to other big accounts) crushing it on tiktok, it kinda seems like with this move they're dipping their toes into all the largest platforms with younger audiences. although that raises another question i don't know anything about: how relevant is the 18-49 demographic outside of TV? is that an age group advertisers are targetting everywhere, or is that a specific TV advertising metric? again, i don't know shit about it, and i don't care to research it right now. it would make sense that "this age group is most likely to have and spend disposable income" would hold across all mediums, but i also kind of reject that idea to begin with. especially in recent years, i don't think being 30 makes you more likely to have disposable income you're willing to part with than like a 60 year old. but, one last time: i do not know what the fuck i am talking about, this is an entire rant based on vibes
i'm really scared this move means the end of the archived footage from the territories being easily available. is netflix really gonna host all that? are they really gonna have a little section titled World Class Championship Wrestling? maybe i should go reread the announcements about it and see if they make mention of it. i feel like i haven't heard much at all about the older stuff the WWE network was really good for ever since they made the move to peacock. i assume all that stuff is on there, right?
i'm so curious how it's gonna work on netflix, especially since this is netflix's first foray into live events. their audience is conditioned to watch when they want to watch, and watch for as long as they feel like watching. will people be watching it live? is that gonna be what netflix is actually pushing? i would almost think it a better strategy to not focus the attention on WATCH THIS SHOW LIVE but rather WATCH THIS SHOW AT YOUR OWN PACE AND SKIP MOST OF THE SECOND AND THIRD HOURS because like who fucking wants to watch three hours of raw? this is their opportunity to let people skip out on all the shit that sucks, and i genuinely think that could be great for them. they could also just not make the shit that sucks but they're pretty averse to smart decisions like that
anyway, this ended up going in circles and not really saying anything. and there's actually nothing wrong with that. that actually makes me smarter than if i had made a coherent point
1: the one and only thing i really find myself missing from twitter is wrestling twitter. all of the smartest analysis of wrestling and the industry as a whole comes from mentally ill freaks on twitter. no other website has both the immediacy of breaking news and thoughtful takes that aren't just mindless fandom in disguise
