Posted on Nov 21, 2002               <<BACK TO NEWSBOARD

(used with permission by Buck Woodward & 1wrestling.com) The WWE held their second quarter conference call this morning for financial investors. Tom Gibbons, who handles investor relations, hosted the call. Linda McMahon went first, reading a prepared statement. Notes from that statement. - She put over that Raw and Smackdown are the highest rated regular programs amongst male teens. - She pointed out that Raw is going into it's tenth year, and that pointed out that no other show has a run that long. As part of the anniversary show, fans will be allowed to vote for their favorite Raw moment, and the float in the Macy's Thanksgiving parade will be based around Raw's anniversary. - They expect an increase in ratings, which they admitted were "soft" as they make new stars. - They pointed out the success of the Australian show, the Summerslam event and other international tours. - They learned today that 18,000 fans are in attendance at the first show of the India tour. - She stressed that it is "all about" storylines and talent, which then drives ratings and PPV buys. - They expect WWE Anthology to have shipped platinum (a million units) within the next ten days. - WWE feels it could take "another couple of quarters" for the brand extension to work. Their plan was for it to take 12-18 months. They feel the split has allowed them to introduce more talent, emphasizing Brock Lesnar. - Pepsi is the sponsor for the tour of India, and they will look for more sponsors in the future. - WWE Fan Club Japan has been started, the first WWE fan club outside the U.S., and there may be more fan clubs in other countries soon. - WWE Films will be launched soon, and Fall 2003 will see their first project. - The final episode of Tough Enough will feature voting from the fans at home, the results of which will be shown on the live finale. - They are reducing the operating budget by approximately 10 million. The acting financial officer (temporarily filling the position held by Augie Ligouri) then went over the financial numbers, which you can read by clicking here. - Linda commented on the press release from yesterday on their ongoing problems with the Wildlife Fund. She said that when they changed from the World Wide Wrestling Federation to the World Wrestling Federation, they never had any problems with the Fund. She pointed out that all the way through the 80's they never had any problems. She said the problems only began with the Internet, as they had WWF.com, while the Fund had WWF.org at the time. The Fund also felt that when the wrestling company redesigned the logo (from block letters to scratch letters), they were creating confusion in the marketplace. She said the Fund said they were hurt to the tune of $360 million dollars, then switched their claim at the last minute to $90 million dollars. Linda said it is simply extortion by the Fund, and that they are angered (after trying to work with them) by the Fund's tactics. They plan on fighting them on this, which is why they made the press release. You can read the release by clicking here. The call then went into a Question and Answer session. - Linda feels they neglected "The World" by not bringing in talent on a regular basis. They have formed a committee to work on the restaurant/entertainment complex, and will have more appearances by talent, as well as more interactive experiences, ala the Wrestlemania fan festivals. It will also be rebranded "The World Of WWE". - Rock is expected back in early Spring. - A question was asked about the dwindling house show attendance, the repetitive programming, the storylines like the necrophilia angle, and Triple H's influence on the creative end of the company due to his relationship with Stephanie McMahon. Linda said Triple H is a "relatively new" boyfriend for Stephanie McMahon, and does not have influence because of that relationship. She put him over as a major star for them. Linda said they have new storylines, pointing out Scott Steiner being the subject of a bidding war between the shows, and the return of Shawn Michaels. The person asking the question said it appeared WWE was turning into WCW at the end, in terms of small house show attendance. Linda said house shows have dropped because of the brand extension, but they will rebuild it as they increase the quality of the storylines on the two shows. The person asking then pointed out that relying on Shawn Michaels, who is at the end of his career, can't work in the long run. Linda retorted that the building of new stars is methodical, and will take time. - When asked if they have had any contact with Steve Austin, Linda McMahon said "Steve is a friend, and we have talked to him several times." When asked if he is returning, she said " Don't know." - They have made "make good" deal with advertisers on a quarterly basis based on ratings being lower than expected. - The UPN deal for Smackdown expires in September 2003, they are expected to work out a new deal in the coming months. The TNN/MTV programs are good until 2005.