WWE released its third quarter financial numbers Thursday morning, and the report includes figures for total revenue and new programming income. Vince McMahon spoke on the company's focus on growth and brand strength, and CFO George Barrios added the following comments:
"The production and licensing of new programs, including a third hour of Raw, the WWE Main Event(TM) and WWE Saturday Morning Slam(TM), as well as the development of online distribution on Hulu Plus exemplify our achievement of these goals. The performance of our new programs, which have attracted an average audience 14% to 50% higher than the viewership of the programs they replaced, demonstrate our ability to build consumer interest, which forms the foundation of our proposed WWE Network." "Our fundamental operating metrics showed continued strength. Average attendance increased 6% at our live events in North America and Pay-Per-View buys increased 13% for the three comparable events in the quarter," added George Barrios, Chief Financial Officer. "While the quarter had an anticipated decline in earnings, based on our results to-date, we are raising our financial forecast for the full year. We expect that our 2012 earnings will be 15% to 25% above our 2011 net income and 10% to 15% above our 2011 EBITDA results, both on an 'as reported' basis."
You can read the entire article, including all reported earnings and figures, at this link.
