IWTV is suing GCW for breach of contract, but now we know a bit more about what motivated the wrestling promotion to try and sever ties with the streaming company last year.
GCW owner Brett Lauderdale recently appeared on The Business of The Business podcast and explained (via Fightful) why the IWTV subscription model was no longer a viable option for GCW and why they moved to host all of their events on FITE. Lauderdale said IWTV is a great option for some promotions looking for exposure, but it didn’t work for GCW anymore due to hitting a ceiling in regards to generating revenue that wasn’t sufficient to their needs.
“IWTV is a great service for some and at times it’s a great service for GCW, but in my opinion, if you’re just relying on a subscription service like IWTV or any Highspots, if that’s the sole distributor of your product, you’re going to hit a ceiling and you can only grow so much. The consumer and the platform are only going to pay so much. With FITE TV, theoretically, there is no ceiling,” Lauderdale explained. “1,000 people can order it, 5,000 people can order it. As interested as people are, our revenue goes up the more we sell.
“On the subscription services like IWTV, there are only so many subscribers. After that, we’re only getting paid X amount per hour. For us, is it worth it to put every show on there? Probably not. For some companies, it’s a great deal because you’re included in this network and there are eyes watching you that would not be buying on FITE TV. If you can get in front of them,” Lauderdale noted, “whether you’re getting 50 cents an hour or $1 an hour, that’s great because you just want someone to watch your product. For GCW, people are already watching and we need to make more than 50 cents or $1 an hour to generate the revenue we need.”
Lauderdale’s podcast appearance aired on May 28; it was later reported on June 4 by Wilkes-Barre’s (PA) Times Leader that IWTV is suing GCW for damages over the company pulling its shows from the streaming platform back in December of 2020. Both IWTV and GCW have issued statements in response to the lawsuit being made public.
Related: IWTV And GCW’s Brett Lauderdale Issue Statements Regarding Ongoing Lawsuit
