The Death of Television: A look at the future of streaming media

"It's not your grandpas TV"

On-Demand streaming is the future wave of television sweeping the world
Image courtesy of Techchunks.com

It's the digital craze sweeping the world, the new form of visual media distribution, the On-Demand Streaming service. While streaming began with roots in radio, when ESPNSportsZone streamed broadcasts live to thousands of subscribers, the current era of streaming is more seen on websites such as Twitch, Ustream or Livestream. But what's On-Demand Streaming? Well it's not your grandpa's TV.

The WWE Network is the brain child of Vince McMahon Jr. the self-made billionaire in charge of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. which deals primarily in the production of Professional Wrestling, a niche product that yet stands upon the precipice of determining the fate of television and Pay-Per-View (PPV).
"What makes WWE Network so groundbreaking is that we are literally going over the top, WWE Network will be the first network ever to launch with a 24/7 streaming service with scheduled programs, exclusive live content and an On Demand library that our fans can access everywhere on any device directly from WWE." Said Michelle Wilson at the press conference on January 8th when the Network was announced. On the WWE's website is a helpful list of all devices that the network can be run on and how to run it on them.

In this Video, WWE Superstar Kofi Kingston explains how to sign up and use the network as well.

What this has to do with the future of streaming media

The WWE Network features an On-Demand library as well as a 24/7 stream of
content making it part television, part on-demand library. (VIA WWE.com)

What the WWE Network represents is the ability for niche products to find a successful platform for themselves to launch. The WWE holds PPVs which served as a main method of revenue. However with the launch of the network, the PPVs have been redubbed "Special Events" and the focus changed away but not completely removed from the PPV market. While Wrestlemania XXX may have been $60 to purchase, the WWE was receiving less than half of that amount. With their own Streaming Network, the WWE is earning a flat $10 monthly fee with 6 month commitment that goes directly into their pocket. Theoretically, this $60 per half year is much less money than that made through one PPV.


But on average, 100,000-200,000 viewers will buy in to a PPV. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter for 2013, the two highest brought PPVs were Wrestlemania (662,000 domestic) and the Royal Rumble (364,000 domestic) Meanwhile, Night of Champions did a paltry 92,000 Domestic. Assume that Night of Champions was $40 US and that the WWE makes about $15 of that. That means that domestically the WWE made $1.44M off of Night of Champions for the PPV Audience.


The WWE Network as- of this post- has 667,287 paying customers, each paying $10/month. So for Night of Champions 2013, streamed simultaneously with the PPV version, the WWE made $6,672,870, an almost 5-time increase over PPV profits. On top of that, the WWE made additional money on the PPV buys. The network is therefore more profitable than the PPV industry was to the WWE.


If the WWE network continues its growth and replaces the PPV industry for the company, it provides a growth for the company, and shows that even a niche product like the WWE can do well.

Unfortunately the Honeymoon is over

NXT Takeover is a live special that will air exclusively on
The WWE Network (Via WWE.com)

While 667,287 subscribers in a manner of 2 months makes the network the fastest growing On-Demand streaming industry, the WWE still has a major problem. Wrestlemania XXX, which aired in April, has passed, and with the biggest event of the year gone the stream of subscribers it would bring are also gone.  The WWE's seeks to have 1,000,000 subscribers by 01/01/2015 in America alone. That means 332,713 people need to sign up for a network devoted to a niche industry like the WWE, without the presence of the latest Wrestlemania to attract them. That's just not very likely to happen. At the same time the 1,000,000 number was meant to be supplemented with PPV buys, and companies such as Dish and DirectTV have decided to not carry PPVs. This inflates the number needed to succeed, still without much to entice new subscribers. Meanwhile the WWE is running new promotions to entice subscribers with merchandise which shows the desperation of needing to hit that 1 Million by the end of the year.


In the end though, this would never kill normal television. Niche products are best promoted by being available on free TV where everyone can see them, when you lock content behind a paywall the only fans you'll have are the fans you've always had, creating an insular market. So is the future of streaming media the death of television? Not yet, but in the future, it very well could be, and the Network will show us, for better or worse, if a niche product can survive off a subscriber base.

Aaron Mikheal is an amateur reporter and writer, when he isn't working on a novel of video game, he writes articles for Reflections. 5/9/14

Vince McMahon and Wrestlemania, the how Pro Wrestling can be realer than life

Vince McMahon is insane. This isn't slander pretty much everyone knows that Vince McMahon with his mood swings, personality shifts and killing dracula in his sons closet, it's a well known fact that Vince has brain issues.

Vince McMahon is also really rich, as in, Billionaire rich, This is a man who took the World Wide Wrestling Federation, then World Wrestling Federation, now World Wrestling Entertainment, from a regional promotion to a global entertainment phenomenon. With the Launch of a streaming service with the WWE network, containing both archival content for any wrestling fan and new programs which have been described as very fun to watch by those I've talked to.

Vince McMahon (Right) talks with Daniel Bryan (Left) on Monday Night Raw

Vince McMahon hates rich people, which could be talking about all the self loathing he probably has, but he also doesn't consider himself a rich man. He does not see himself as rich or indulge in his money, he has a fast car and a fast motorbike, and his son-in-law got him a T-Rex head for his office, but like that T-Rex he'll never stop feeding and growing.

Maybe that's because Vince came up from an abused family in a trailer park, maybe it's because all that money doesn't mean anything to him, maybe it's because Vince is fucking insane. I'll go with the last one personally.

Vince McMahon is probably an amazing case study for a psychologist, and that simple statement of "I do not consider myself Rich" is probably another layer on the already multi-layered psychosis of the Billionaire corporate boss.

In other news, Wrestlemania 30 is a coming, the Grandest Stage of them All, the Showcase of the Immortals, that thing that two weeks ago looked like complete trash, and in two weeks, and really only 6 hours of shows, is now boiling blood.

At the Show of Shows, the Deadman, body decaying with his immortal streak of 21 straight wins with no losses, will fight against The Beast Incarnate, Brock Lesnar, the only man to be both WWE Champion and UFC World Heavyweight Champion, Who in 2012, busted open the face of the WWE John Cena, and licked his blood from his gloves.

John Cena himself, the face, the hero of children and the downtrodden, will be fighting the malicious, vile and degenerate Bray Wyatt. A cult leader who doesn't just claim to represent the devil, but the actual lord of darkness possessing the body of Husky Harris. Wyatt does not care about beating Cena, he wants to break his legacy, he wants to kill hope, and everything he's built.

And in the match that has been in the making for 6 months, Daniel Bryan, the American Dragon, will fight against Triple H, the COO of the WWE, a principal owner, who 6 months prior had stolen the WWE championship from Bryan after he won it, clean, from John Cena at Summerslam, and placed it upon his paper champion, Randy Orton. For 6 months Bryan has fought to regain HIS title, and Hunter Herset Helmsley had screwed him at every conceivable turn.

The moment that shocked the world, Daniel Bryan hit his Busaiku Knee and pinned John Cena clean for the WWE Championship, launching the storyline that would change the company

As Triple H intended for his champion for face his old friend, Batista, Bryan took his place in history by occupying Monday Night Raw, demanding his match with the man who had tried his best to bury him for 6 months. And if he wins, Bryan will be added to the championship match, a shot at victory, after struggling and being beaten, and cheated for half a year!

In less than two weeks, on Sunday, we could see a Dragon become a god, we could see an immortal streak die, we could see the superman break. And those fans, behind the scenes know that this is all fake...

But what if they don't?

Triple H is notorious in real life for wanting to put himself over, and if he wins, HE gets added to the match, in fact, Bryan and Himself being in a match was never the plan, the sheer negativity towards the return of Batista, raking the spot away from the peoples champion Bryan, along with the real life departure of CM Punk for reasons no one knows because no one is saying anything, caused this.

Will an old plot-line have the same ending? Will Hunters ego put himself over?

And what of Wyatt and Cena? Wyatt is a fresh face for the audience, and Cena is the highest drawing person in the WWE, he is literally 1/5th of their quarterly revenue. On the biggest show of the year will Cena go over the young Wyatt? And if he does, will the storyline conclude in a way that puts Wyatt over?

And the Undertaker? he never loses at Wrestlemania! He can't lose! But... look at him! He looks like an old man, a greying 49 year old who's gone bald. How long can this go on? will the streak end when his career does? will the legitimate monster of Brock Lesnar end up hurting him and ending his career by accident?

The Undertaker(Right) looking very old and white for a 49 year old man.

With such dual-storyline drama, the WWE is realer than any sport, sure the outcomes are pre-determined, but there's no less drama in knowing that a writing team controls them all. And that writing team is controlled by Vince McMahon, a 70 year old man who, to this day, sits in the Gorilla Position constantly talking into the ears of the commentators. This same control freak who never misses a show, never knew that a wrestler currently visiting back stage had been unemployed, wondering why he wasn't in ring gear.

Of course the WWE has it's Dual-storyline drama, it's own owner, Vince McMahon, is a duality of personality. And who can determine what parts of his psyche are real, and what parts he projects as part of that larger than life character?

But it sure as hell makes for some great TV

Hey lets post something

Hey publishing something here for a class so I don't have to write a new one.

I've been reading a lot on something awful particularly the Let's Play forum and the Punchsport Pagoda  because I got really into Wrestling over the years, I've been playing Agarest Zero

Which has been pretty fun the more I learn about it, but is crippled by a few design choices. I've been working on my hacks, moving very slowly even with the help of Temp the animator. I've been listening to the Bryan and Vinny show whenever I can because damn those guys have wonderful voices




And hey, check out this cool shit!

BAM! Awesome that this is coming out. And if you haven't checked out One Punch Man

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