WWE, Netflix begin new ‘Raw’ era for a global audience

[CRAIG NIGRELLI]

IN NOVEMBER – IT WAS TYSON VS. PAUL.

IN DECEMBER – IT WAS NFL GAMES ON CHRISTMAS.

AND NOW – IN JANUARY – IT’S TIME FOR “RAW.”

AS IN WWE’S LONG-RUNNING FLAGSHIP TV SERIES – “MONDAY NIGHT RAW.”

IT WAS AROUND THIS TIME LAST YEAR — WHEN NETFLIX ANNOUNCED IT HAD REACHED AN AGREEMENT WITH WWE WORTH MORE THAN 5 BILLION DOLLARS TO STREAM “RAW” – AS WELL AS OTHER WWE PROGRAMMING – OVER THE NEXT 10 YEARS – IN THE US AND OTHER COUNTRIES.

EACH COMPANY LOOKING FOR THIS PARTNERSHIP TO HELP GROW THEIR RESPECTIVE BUSINESSES.

NETFLIX — WHICH BOASTS MORE THAN 283 MILLION PAID MEMBERSHIPS – IS LEANING MORE AND MORE INTO ITS LIVE SPORTS OFFERINGS — HOPING THE WWE CAN SUPLEX THEM INTO THE NEXT ERA BY CAPITALIZING ON THE STREAMER’S RECENT SUCCESSES.

IN NOVEMBER – NETFLIX PRESENTED THE BOXING SPECTACLE BETWEEN FORMER HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION MIKE TYSON AND YOUTUBER-TURNED-FIGHTER JAKE PAUL. THE STREAMING GIANT SAYS THE EVENT GARNERED 65 MILLION CONCURRENT STREAMS—MAKING IT THE MOST-STREAMED SPORTING EVENT EVER.

THEN A LITTLE OVER A MONTH LATER – NETFLIX SHOWCASED ITS FIRST NFL GAMES AS PART OF A 3-YEAR DEAL – A CHRISTMAS DAY DOUBLEHEADER – WITH EACH GAME AVERAGING 30 MILLION GLOBAL VIEWERS. NETFLIX SAYS THEY WERE THE MOST-STREAMED NFL GAMES IN U.S. HISTORY.

AND NOW — AFTER MORE THAN 30 YEARS SINCE ITS PREMIERE EPISODE, WWE IS TAKING “RAW” OFF CABLE TV AND ONTO STREAMING. ONE MAIN REASON IS NETFLIX’S GLOBAL REACH. ACCORDING TO RESEARCH FIRM LIGHTSHED PARTNERS — THE SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT SERIES AVERAGES MORE THAN 1 POINT 7 MILLION VIEWERS IN THE US – AND WWE WANTS MORE.

[PAUL ‘TRIPLE H’ LEVESQUE | WWE CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER]

“The future is incredibly bright. And now with the biggest streaming service in the world as our partner, we become bigger than we have ever been before. On Jan. 6, it’s not just the launch of Raw on Netflix, it is a new launch of WWE worldwide.”

[CRAIG NIGRELLI]

THE WWE – HAS BEEN HOLDING MORE AND MORE GLOBAL PREMIUM LIVE EVENTS IN THE PAST YEAR SINCE BECOMING PART OF TKO HOLDINGS – A COMPANY WHICH ALSO INCLUDES THE UFC. THE WWE IS NOW LOOKING TO TAP EVEN MORE INTO THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET – SOMETHING NETFLIX IS VERY FAMILIAR WITH.

NETFLIX SAYS THE TYSON-PAUL BOXING MATCH – WAS ITS NUMBER ONE TITLE IN 78 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES THE WEEK IT AIRED – INCLUDING AUSTRALIA, INDIA, ITALY, MEXICO AND THE UK.

AND FANS FROM 218 COUNTRIES AND TERRORITIES TUNED IN FOR AT LEAST ONE OF THE NFL GAMES – RANKING THEM NUMBER 1 AND 2 ON THE GLOBAL TOP TEN CHRISTMAS WEEK.

BUT IN THE END, IT COMES DOWN TO THE PRODUCT – THE WWE STACKING THE NETFLIX PREMIERE AS IF IT IS ONE OF ITS PILLAR EVENTS – LIKE A WRESTLEMANIA.

THE DEBUT EPISODE WILL FEATURE A RETURNING JOHN CENA BEGINNING HIS FAREWELL TOUR, AS WELL AS SOME OF THE BIGGEST NAMES IN THE SPORT – WWE CHAMPION CODY RHODES, ROMAN REIGNS, C.M. PUNK, SETH ROLLINS, RHEA  RHIPLEY AND LIV MORGAN.

AND ON SUNDAY – THE ROCK CONFIRMED HE WILL BE AT MONDAY’S SHOW IN LOS ANGELES SAYING HE’S COMING “BACK HOME” TO WWE TO “MAKE HISTORY ON NETFLIX AND BEGIN A NEW AND EXCITING ERA.”

WHILE VIEWERS COMPLAINED OF GLITCHES DURING THE TYSON-PAUL MATCH – NETFLIX SAW FEWER COMPLAINTS DURING THE NFL GAMES. NOW THE STREAMING SERVICE WILL FACE A NEW CHALLENGE – NOT ONLY SUCCESSFULLY STREAMING A 3-HOUR WWE SHOW MONDAY – BUT REPEATING THAT TASK EVERY SINGLE MONDAY NIGHT OF THE YEAR.

WRESTLING FANS – NEW AND OLD  – TUNING IN TO WATCH WWE ON NETFLIX WILL BE HOPING THEY SEE A SQUARED CIRCLE AND NOT A SPINNING ONE.

FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS, I’M CRAIG NIGRELLI.

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