WWE Co-President George Barrios spoke to The Verge about a wide range of topics related to the company and its streaming service, WWE Network.
WWE rolled out a new version of the Network before SummerSlam that saw an updated interface, an improved search, and more. The next big change to the network would be a tiered version that has been talked about since last fall.
Barrios gave a preview for what fans can expect with a tiered Network:
Free: This will offer the same free-to-watch videos you’d normally find on WWE.com. Barrios said WWE might also offer timed previews of paid WWE Network content.
Regular: The standard WWE Network experience, combining free content with subscription benefits like live pay-per-views, on-demand streaming, and original programming.
Premium: “We think there’s also an opportunity to super-serve our most passionate Network subscribers with a premium tier that’ll bring together more content for them, more features for them, and also integrating some of our other non-video services like our commerce — potentially integrating something like free shipping, bringing together our digital ticketing efforts in there. It becomes the one place to experience everything WWE.”
Barrios also talked about how fans will be able to download videos but noted that they shouldn’t expect 4K video to hit the Network anytime soon.
“4K, I think that will be driven more by the penetration of 4K devices and then 4K consumption. It seems like a century ago, but when we moved to HD 10 years ago or so, we waited until about 25 or 30 percent of the big screens in the homes were HD-capable,” Barrios said. “I think similarly, both from a broadband standpoint (5G driving some of it) as well as the big screen penetration of 4K, when we go 4K kind of will be driven by that. To your point, we’ve experimented with it, but I wouldn’t expect a significant amount of video content in 4K this year certainly.”
