Objectives

Available on Apple iOS and Android devices, The WWE App acts as the digital center of the WWE Universe for non-subscribers, bringing WWE's global fan base closer to WWE's Superstars and Divas than ever before. The WWE App's interactive second-screen companion platform richly enhances the viewing experience during all of WWE's television programming.

A key component of the WWE App is WWE Network, the first-ever 24/7 direct-to-consumer network delivered directly to fans through over-the-top digital distribution. Featuring all 12 WWE live pay-per-view events, WWE Network features groundbreaking original programming, reality shows, documentaries, classic matches and nearly 3,000 hours of video on demand. More than 1 million people subscribe to WWE Network for $9.99/month.

Strategy and Execution

STRATEGY

For WWE fans, The WWE App also offers an unprecedented content experience, delivering live video during all commercial breaks, as well as interactive trivia and polls, exclusive backstage photos and fascinating facts about the show and its Superstars.

For years, fans have welcomed WWE into their homes via our weekly shows, including Monday Night Raw and WWE SmackDown as well as during monthly pay-per-view events.

For those fans unable to attend a live show, the viewing experience has been an excellent way to consume WWE entertainment. Additionally, WWE's aggressive integration of social media into WWE shows provides a viewing experience unmatched by any other weekly episodic show.

In partnership with WWE television and creative writing and production, WWE App voting is incorporated in every live Monday Night Raw episode as part of the second-screen experience, affecting storyline activity in the program. Depending on the vote topic, the WWE fans' responses can select the winners of awards, choose match participants or stipulations, or decide which characters get hired or fired.

WWE's Digital Content team creates the second-screen content that accompanies the live programming, which features dynamic illustrated factoids, fan tweets, polling and exclusive backstage photography from the event. Due to the ever-changing script behind our live programming, the Digital Content team often has just hours to create the content seen on the second-screen presentation, not weeks like most network scripted programs.

The second screen also provides live video Superstar interviews and match continuations during commercial breaks in the on-air program, providing a unique real-time viewing experience unrivaled in the industry's current crop of second-screen apps.

DIGITAL STORYTELLING

WWE App second-screen content, from exclusive videos to audience voting, is designed to advance and enhance the multiple ongoing storylines of WWE's television programs.

General examples of the WWE App's multiplatform storytelling include:

• Audience votes in various interactive polls in real-time to determine under which type match stipulation two Superstars would compete, or which Superstar a competitor must face – live on television.
• During commercial breaks, WWE App users watch exclusive, live video in which competitors are assigned matches in-program that take place immediately upon return to programming.
• During commercial breaks, viewers can watch a match currently in progress instead of missing the action until the broadcast resumes.
• WWE App users are privy to exclusive, live video involving character interaction and the progression of storyline, including video that picks up and continues just as television programming goes off the air.
• The WWE App bridges the gap between television and social media by showcasing storyline-related tweets sent between Superstars.

Specific examples of the WWE App's multiplatform storytelling include:

• Audience voted in interactive polls as the sole decision-makers to determine the winner in each category of WWE's annual, live, televised awards show, The Slammy Awards.
• Audience voted in interactive polls to determine which opponent the WWE Champion would compete against that same evening.
• WWE App users watched exclusive, live video of a WWE Diva quitting the company, within storyline, after her loss on live TV.
• A WWE talent was asked to react to negative fan sentiment garnered exclusively through a live poll on the WWE App.

For example of WWE App second-screen content and App moments from WWE TV, visit our online portfolio at http://wweawards.com/2015shortyawards-wweapp

RESULTS:

The WWE App is available on every major mobile device, including iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets.

WWE App has been downloaded more than 16 million times, including more than 5 million international downloads from users in 220 countries

WWE App has live vote events averaging over 180,000 votes each, with 3.5 million average monthly unique users for the app in 2014.

More than 170 million page views since launch and 38 million video streams in 2014 have been watched in the WWE App's second-screen

More than 440 million videos views have been watched through the WWE App since its launch in July 2012

In an audience survey of WWE Network subscribers in May 2014:

• Nine in ten respondents said they were very or extremely satisfied with WWE Network. 50% said they were extremely satisfied.
• 65% of survey respondents reported WWE Network exceeding the expectations they had prior to subscribing.
• As to frequency of viewing: Nine-in-ten subscribers surveyed claim to watch WWE Network at least once per week. Almost one third (31%) claim to watch daily.
• Two-thirds of subscriber survey respondents would "definitely" recommend WWE Network, reinforcing the positive reactions to the service.

Media