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  • Operator

  • Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,

  • and welcome to the World Wrestling Entertainment

  • fourth-quarter 2002 earnings release conference

  • call. At this time, all participants have been

  • placed on a listen-only mode and the floor will be

  • open for your questions and comments following the

  • presentation.

  • It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to

  • your host, Mr. Tom Gibbons. Sir, the floor is

  • yours.

  • Tom Gibbons - VP of Investor Relations

  • Thank you, operator, and welcome, everyone, to

  • WWE's fourth-quarter conference call and webcast.

  • This is Tom Gibbons, vice president of investor

  • relations. Joining me on the call this morning

  • are Linda McMahon, chief executive officer, and

  • Auguste Liguori, chief financial officer.

  • As you know, we issued fourth-quarter - our

  • fourth-quarter press release this morning and if

  • you have not received a copy, you can download one

  • from our corporate website, www.WWEcorpBIS.com.

  • Please note that we are also what, if anything,

  • our conference call on this website.

  • We'll follow the same format as in prior quarters.

  • Linda will begin the call with a general overview

  • of the quarter and then update you on some of the

  • initiatives that we are currently undertaking.

  • Auguste will then discuss the fourth-quarter

  • financial results in detail and then talk briefly

  • about our guidance for the current fiscal year.

  • At the conclusion of the prepared remarks, we will

  • open it up to questions.

  • I'd like to first begin today by saying that our

  • discussion may include forward-looking statements

  • that are subject to various risks, factors, and

  • uncertainties, particularly those described in

  • WWE's filings with the SEC. Actual results could

  • differ materially from those currently

  • anticipated.

  • with that being said, I will now turn the call

  • over to Linda McMahon.

  • Linda McMahon - CEO

  • Thanks, Tom. Good morning, everyone, and thank

  • you for joining us today.

  • As you know, we issued our fourth-quarter earnings

  • release this morning. We had a very good quarter,

  • especially in an environment that was challenging

  • for most media and entertainment companies but as

  • I've always stated, one of the hallmarks of our

  • company is our ability to respond to change.

  • During the past few months, we have made some

  • significant strides in this regard, with the

  • implementation of our new strategic initiatives.

  • Specifically, our brand extension and

  • international expansion efforts. This will be a

  • gradual process as there will definitely be some

  • adjustments along the way, as we determine the

  • optimal creative formula.

  • As in all forms of entertainment, determining the

  • optimal creative formula is not an exact science

  • and there are a lot of variables in play. We

  • often introduce new story lines and talent. Some

  • work and some don't. There are times when this

  • process takes longer than we anticipate, but in

  • the end, we have a proven track record of success.

  • As many of you know, this past May, we changed our

  • name to World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. Our

  • new name puts the emphasis on E for entertainment,

  • which is what our company does best. With the

  • name change, we now have a global identity that is

  • distinctive, unencumbered and supports our U.S.

  • and international growth plans and our brand

  • extension initiatives.

  • Relative to our brand extension, to further expand

  • our creative efforts, we created two separate

  • brands under the WWE umbrella. Raw and Smackdown.

  • We now deliver two unique story lines with two

  • distinct groups of talents to our fans around the

  • world. This effectively doubles the content we're

  • delivering to our fans. Our new program lineup

  • consists of Sunday night heat, velocity and

  • confidential, as well our new syndicated promises,

  • bottom line and after-burn, which allows us to

  • further develop separate and distinct identities,

  • talent for our Raw and Smackdown brands. The

  • introduce of new talent into our story lines has

  • infused new blood into our creative mix. We now

  • have an increased talent pool that translates to

  • additional revenue streams. In other words, more

  • pay purview events, more live events, more

  • international tours, more branded merchandise and

  • more television programming with newly developing

  • stars. It is also a major impetus behind our

  • international expansion plans.

  • Turning to our international business for a

  • minute, we continue to make excellent progress

  • here. Given our strong television penetration

  • around the world, live event touring was the next

  • logical step. Our initial Asian and European

  • tours were a huge success for the company as we

  • performed to sellout audiences. Building upon

  • this, our aggressive global expansion tour

  • includes an event scheduled for this summer in

  • Australia. More than 50,000 fans hold tickets for

  • this event, which is a sellout for Melbourne's

  • colonial stadium. We recently announced new

  • consumer product licensing, DVD and live

  • sponsorship arrangements. In Japan, we have

  • retained sports marketing Japan as our agent to

  • develop consumer product licensing N Europe, the

  • copyright promotions licensing group will be our

  • agent handling licenses for consumer products in

  • the United Kingdom, Ireland and the channel

  • islands. We enclosed three agreements for

  • Australia. Both in Australia and in New Zealand.

  • Chock records has been appointed the exclusive

  • home video and DVD licensee. Victoria Major

  • Events company, a group responsible for bringing

  • live events to Melbourne will be a sponsor in

  • Melbourne as well as Xbox. We are off to a great

  • start. Our success thus far has surpassed our

  • expectations and validates our assertions that the

  • potential in the international markets will

  • provide an attractive boost to our revenues. We

  • expect to begin to see the benefits of the sale of

  • our branded merchandise in the next 6 to 9 months

  • as our new licensees build inventory in the

  • marketplace.

  • In addition, we expect to increase, again, our

  • international tours from 4 this year to 6 to 8 for

  • next year. I would like to turn your attention to

  • the key drivers of our business. We have always

  • stated the key drivers of our business, namely,

  • live event attendance, pay purview buys and

  • television ratings, are the barometers that we

  • look at to gauge the health of our business.

  • While our drivers have softened over the last

  • year, we are continuing to generate considerable

  • revenues from our loyal fan base. Our mission in

  • the brand extension is to further drive the casual

  • fan back into our followed and we bring the

  • addition of our creative efforts will prove to be

  • successful over and over again.

  • Our television ratings have decreased reflecting

  • the increased competition for eyeballs across all

  • programming. The number of people within our

  • target demographic are spending less time watching

  • television and more time on other activities such

  • as playing video games. Additionally, the

  • proliferation of reality-based television series

  • and the increase in the number of new episodes in

  • some of the established television programs have

  • also been a factor.

  • Increased competition from new television

  • programs, such as the Osbornes, Fear Factor,

  • Sponge Bob Square Pants and Dog Eat Dog as well as

  • Survivor have pulled away some of our key demos

  • and while there's been some softness in television

  • ratings, our flagship programs, Raw and Smackdown,

  • continue to hold their leadership position. It is

  • also important to keep in mind that our

  • programming (inaudible) for male teen and young

  • adult demographics. Raw on TNN remains the

  • highest rated regularly scheduled program on basic

  • cable television and Smackdown on UPN is

  • consistently the top rated program on network

  • television among male teens on Thursday nights.

  • We continue to fine-tune our creative and in doing

  • so, we expect to see a concurrent increase in

  • ratings. We believe that the introduction of new

  • talent and the creative boost in producing two

  • separate programs will translate into higher

  • ratings as we develop compelling story lines and

  • reinvigorate the demand.

  • In summary, while we did have a good quarter, we

  • believe there is more room for improvement and

  • growth, both in our core business and beyond. As

  • you can see, we are moving along on a number of

  • new fronts that will leverage the popularity of

  • the WWE brand, our talent and our unique and

  • creative story lines. Since this is a talent

  • driven business, we believe we can build on the

  • popularity of our talent and bolster our current

  • programming. As we work - as we are at work on

  • the creative side of our business throughout the

  • year, we will simultaneously be focusing on

  • improving our overall profitability.

  • I'd like now, if I may, to turn things over to

  • Auguste to take you through the precise

  • financials.

  • Auguste Liguori - CFO

  • Thanks, Linda. I'd like to walk you through

  • the financials and give you some color as to

  • what's behind the numbers. After I'm finished, we

  • will open it up to Q and A. Engine total revenues for

  • the quarter increased 4% to 135.9 million compared

  • to the fourth quarter last year, as increases in

  • our live and tell advised business were able to

  • more than offset a decline in our branded

  • merchandise businesses.

  • Live and tell advised revenues, which represented

  • about 77% of total revenues increased 6% to

  • 105 million.

  • As far as live events are concerned, revenues were

  • 27.9 million, or 8% above last year. There were

  • 78 events, including three international events

  • during the quarter. This compares to 59 events

  • during the same period last year.

  • Attendance for the quarter was approximately

  • 693,000, which included attendance of about 38,400

  • from our international live event tour. This

  • compares to attendance of 695,000 in the prior

  • year quarter.

  • As planned, we increased the number of events with

  • the launch of our brand extension, and we are now

  • playing smaller markets that we have not played in

  • several years.

  • Coupled with some softness in our overall

  • attendance, 9 average attendance per event was

  • 8,900 for this quarter versus 11,800 last year.

  • the company enjoyed its highest grossing event

  • ever, wrestle mania 18, with attendance of 68,237

  • or approximately $3.9 million.

  • This event established a new attendance and box

  • office record at the Toronto sky dome. Although

  • attendance declined slightly, the average price

  • per ticket increased 10% to when $37.91 for the

  • quarter.

  • Pay purview revenues for the quarter were

  • 40.6 million as compared to 39.3 million in the

  • prior year quarter.

  • the number of domestic buys was at about

  • 2.4 million versus 2.3 million last year, or a 4%

  • increase.

  • Prior period buys were 400,000, versus 300,000

  • last year, and we did about a hundred thousand

  • buys from our fanatic series in both quarters.

  • Our estimates for wrestle mania 18 pay purview

  • buys are in line with last year's record results

  • of approximately 1 million buys. Commencing with

  • our April pay purview backlash, the price of our

  • pay purview programs increased from 29.95 to

  • 34.95, while wrestle mania will remain at 39.95.

  • Looking forward, the launch of our brand extension

  • and international expansion strategies has opened

  • the doors for additional pay purviews. For the

  • quarter, our revenues for - from television

  • rights fees increased 17%, principally due to the

  • growth in international rights fees. Rights fees

  • for our tough enough television series and other

  • television specials. We produced two television

  • specials this year, namely, deaf a sex on the

  • beach and history of wrestle mania.

  • Based on our initial success, we plan to do more

  • of this type of programming in the future.

  • Working off the success of tough enough 1 and 2,

  • we signed on to produce tough enough 3, with MTV.

  • For those of you who are unfamiliar with this

  • program, it was the number one rated program on

  • cable among persons 12 to 34 on Thursday night.

  • Advertising revenues of 21 point 9 million for the

  • quarter were essentially the same, as compared to

  • the prior-year quarter. This, once again,

  • demonstrates the strength of our brand in the down

  • market and the success in delivering key male

  • demos that the advertisers seek.

  • Separately, we've enjoyed a very successful up

  • front this year. We'll report on those results

  • during our first-quarter conference call. Branded

  • merchandise revenues decreased 3% to 30.9 million.

  • The market for branded merchandise is still weak,

  • although there are some pockets of strength in the

  • DVDs and the video games.

  • Merchandise revenues were about 8.8 million, as

  • compared to 78.5 million in the prior year.

  • Included in the 8.8 million was 6.6 million from

  • merchandise sold at venues and 2.2 million from

  • our shop zone website and catalog.

  • the increase in venue sales was due to our higher

  • per caps in the quarter of $9.47 as compared to

  • $9.09 last year.

  • Publishing revenues increased 5%, to 5.9 million,

  • primarily due to the increase in the number of

  • special magazine titles and increases in cover

  • prices of war magazine and deaf a 2002 magazine.

  • Licensing revenues were 5.6 million in the quarter

  • as compared to 7.5 million in the prior-year

  • quarter.

  • As - an increase in video game revenues was I

  • don't have set by lower sales of our books in the

  • quarter. Video game revenues increased by 83% to

  • 1.6 million in the current quarter, primarily due

  • to Xbox video game, WWE, which sold the most units

  • for any Xbox third-party software in its first

  • weeks of launch.

  • Our video revenues increased 4.9 million due to an

  • 8 6% increase in the number of home video units

  • sold, principally attributable to the shift in the

  • DVD formats.

  • DVD accounted for 49% of the current quarter unit

  • sales, versus 13% in the prior year quarter. This

  • trend should continue as the popularity of the DVD

  • format expands.

  • the media revenues increased 13% to 1.2 million,

  • and the world revenues were 3.8 million for the

  • quarter, as compared to 4.4 million last year.

  • the company has re-branded this venue and has

  • expanded into new areas such as rock concerts and

  • corporate hospitality events. May of 2002,

  • metropolitan entertainment was contracted to be

  • the exclusive producer of all concerts and comedy

  • acts at the world. Our club, the world, has

  • become increasingly popular as indicative of our

  • other revenue opportunities that we can develop at

  • this venue.

  • Total profit contribution for the quarter was

  • 59.5 million as compared to 55.7 million for the

  • prior-year quarter. Total profit contribution

  • margin increased to 44%, up from 43% last year.

  • the profit contribution margin for the live and

  • tell advised business was approximately 44% versus

  • 45% in the fourth quarter of last year. Profit

  • contribution margin for the branded merchandise

  • business was 44%, as compared to 35% during the

  • same period last year. In the fourth quarter

  • 2001, the company recorded additional inventory

  • and return reserves which impacted the margins in

  • our branded merchandise business segment.

  • SG and A expenses for the quarter increased 5% to

  • 31.1 million as compared to 29.6 million last

  • year. This increase was primarily due to costs

  • associated with the company's name change as well

  • as the increased costs at the - increased

  • expenses at the world.

  • These increases were slightly offset by lower

  • professional fees. EBITDA grew to 28.5 million

  • versus 26.1 million last year.

  • Income from continuing operations was 16 million,

  • and EPS from continuing operations was 22 cents

  • per share versus 17 million and 23 cents per share

  • respectively in the same period last year,

  • primarily due to higher depreciation and lower

  • interest income for the year.

  • We have essentially completed the shutdown of the

  • XFL. There are still a few minor points yet to be

  • resolved. We should not see any further

  • adjustments in subsequent periods.

  • for the year, net revenues were 425 million versus

  • 456 million, or a 7% decrease from the prior year.

  • While there has been some softness in our drivers

  • and our costs have expanded, we finished the year

  • with EBITDA of 55.2 million versus 92.9 million in

  • the prior year. Free cash flow for the year was

  • approximately 23 million. And as Linda indicated,

  • the company is continuing to review its continuing

  • operations in all of its operation - investments

  • in its operations.

  • For the year, and from the balance sheet point of

  • view for the year, we finished roughly with about

  • 487 million in total assets, with approximately

  • 294 million in cash and short-term investments,

  • 64 million in receivables. Our long-term debt was

  • 10 million, and our total shareholders' equity was

  • approximately 390 million.

  • Our capital expenditures for the year were about

  • $19 million.

  • As we indicated in our press release, we have put

  • forth some guidance for fiscal 2003. We've

  • assumed the same level of television ratings and

  • pay purview buys. Attendance is projected to

  • increase to the number - to increase in the

  • number of events, and we are using a lower average

  • attendance per event in our projections.

  • the full-year impact of our price increases in pay

  • purview are also a factor in our assumptions, and

  • as Linda pointed out, we have a very strong and

  • loyal core fan base who continue to watch our

  • television programs, attend our live events, and

  • purchase our branded merchandise. The launch of

  • our brand extension and the growth of our

  • international business is designed to capture more

  • of the casual fan.

  • As always, and as mentioned earlier, we are

  • reviewing our continuing investment in our

  • operations, and as we move forward to maximize our

  • profitability. We have provided additional

  • details on our website, as Tom pointed out.

  • At this point, I'd like to open it up for

  • questions.

  • Operator

  • Thank you. The floor is now open

  • for questions. If you do have a question or

  • comment, please press 1 followed by 4 on your

  • touch-tone phones. If you're on a speakerphone,

  • we ask that you please pick up your handset to

  • minimize any background noise and if at any point

  • your question has been answered, you may remove

  • yourself from the queue by pressing the pound key.

  • Once again, ladies and gentlemen, if you do have a

  • question or comment, please press 1, followed by

  • 4, on your touch-tone phone.

  • and our first question is coming from Mr. Jeff

  • Hoskins of Gerard Klauer Mattison. Sir, your line

  • is live. If you're on a speakerphone, please pick

  • up your handset to pose your question.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Can you hear me now.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Yeah.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Okay. Congratulations on a great quarter,

  • guys. Well done.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Thanks.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • I wanted to ask you a question. You talked a

  • little bit about the ratings on Raw and Smackdown

  • but can you talk a little bit maybe just in

  • general terms on your level of satisfaction with

  • the new shows?

  • Unknown Speaker

  • the new shows - let me just clarify one thing.

  • The new shows are new titles and new content, in

  • the new hours, so that we're all clear that we

  • have revitalized some of our shows. On Saturday

  • night on TNN we now have velocity followed by

  • confidential. Confidential has been - has been

  • getting great reviews for us. In fact, I think we

  • increased our ratings the first week by about 53%,

  • and bumped up the male viewing audience during

  • that time as well.

  • Prior to that, we've had a block on, you know,

  • from 10:00 to 12:00 on sat night, and that was

  • a - the excess program, and that was not doing as

  • well. So these two new programs, I think, are -

  • are really doing well for us. We're pleased, and

  • TNN is certainly pleased as well that we, you

  • know, have changed that format.

  • In fact, with now the addition of those two

  • programs and as well as heat, which is on MTV, Raw

  • and those three programs on the, you know, cable

  • prime time rankers, Raw is number one and those

  • three programs, heat, velocity, and tough enough,

  • are like No. 14. So we're - we're right in there

  • in the marketplace. We're pleased with the new

  • formats.

  • and then the other programs that are in

  • syndication are recap and magazine shows which

  • then give the audience a bit more flavor for both

  • Raw and for Smackdown, as each of those individual

  • programs, you know, cover those particular either

  • cable or broadcast programs for the week.

  • So we're pleased with that. It seems to be going

  • well for us, and as usual, we're always tweaking

  • our content to provide our fans with more

  • information. They like to be on the inside.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Great. And just one question on capex for

  • 2002, if I may. $15 million, is that - are there

  • any projects that you can identify for us that

  • make that up?

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Jeff, did you mean for fiscal 2003?

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Excuse me. Fiscal 2003, yeah, Auguste.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • We have some of those projects. Some of them

  • relate to our IT projects. Some of them - and

  • some relate to some of our expansions in our

  • production facilities and finishing off some of

  • the expenditures in our world operation.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Okay. Thanks a lot.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Thanks, Jeff.

  • Operator

  • Thank you. Our next question is

  • coming from Paul Molson of Business Capital

  • Management.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Hello?

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Hi, Paul.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Hi. How are you doing. Linda, I have a

  • question for you. You mentioned that the ratings

  • were down because of competition on other

  • networks. Let me ask you this: How much do you

  • think is due to the actual story lines that have

  • been turning people off, the fact that the writing

  • team has been hot-shotting the angles, making

  • changing them from week to week, where you have

  • major story lines being dropped, and what effect

  • do you think having Austin no longer with the

  • company temporarily or permanent is going to have

  • an effect, going forward? I have another question

  • after you're done.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Okay. Paul, you're obviously a fan. Or at

  • least a viewer.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • I've been a viewer and a fan for well over 20

  • years.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • First of all, we would stand up straight and

  • tall and say that the first obligation we have to

  • our fans is through our writing and our

  • creativity. We have taken a particular course in,

  • you know, expanding the two brands and to voting

  • story lines and content on Monday night for Raw

  • and a particular talent group and the same thing

  • on Thursday, with the Smackdown show.

  • We expected, when we did that, to take a half step

  • backwards. We were not surprised to see some

  • decline in the ratings with that, as we get those

  • talents organized and working together, as we also

  • create better story lines with longer story a. I

  • think your point is very well taken. Those are

  • all the things that we're working on. When we

  • bought WCW and integrated those talents into our

  • brand, it wasn't as simple as we thought and we

  • believe that this tactic with the brand

  • extension - and as I mentioned earlier - will

  • add, you know, eventually - it already has added

  • more live events because now we have a Raw tour

  • and a Smackdown tour, but eventually we will add,

  • you know, more pay purview, and I know I'm going

  • on a bit, but the brand extension also gives us

  • the opportunity to tour more internationally.

  • For instance, last May when we were in Europe, we

  • had the Raw tour. When we go back in October,

  • we'll have the Smackdown tour. If we didn't have

  • the two separate shows and brands at this point,

  • we wouldn't be able make those international jumps

  • like we're doing now.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Okay. Going back to attendance for a second,

  • would you say that your large growth right now

  • rests overseas because attendance at the stateside

  • shows has not been good. I believe it's to the

  • point now where you're not even selling out Raw

  • and Smackdown tapings. And some of the house

  • shows, I know, have played to well less than

  • capacity. So would you say going forward, you're

  • going to concentrate more on having the

  • international shows?

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Not more. Not more of a concentration but we

  • will increase the number of international shows.

  • But we will not decrease the number of our

  • domestic shows. In fact, we've already increased

  • those.

  • I do think that the softening in ratings does

  • translate into, you know, the softening at live

  • events. If you have, you know, fewer eyeballs

  • watching. Hey, we're all about presenting to the

  • public and the fans what they want to see.

  • Sometimes we're great at it. Sometimes we're

  • right on. And sometimes, you know, if you're

  • writing 52 weeks a year, you can't hit the button

  • every time.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Of course, of course.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • We do have a proven track record of success for

  • over now about three generations so we're

  • confident that our programming will be more

  • creative and inventive, even in a very competitive

  • marketplace, so we know that we are always capable

  • of adjusting and retooling and reinventing

  • ourselves, and it's all about, you know, building

  • new characters and personalities.

  • You asked about stone cold. You know, when stone

  • cold was injured a couple of years ago and was out

  • for eight months, everyone wondered, well, who was

  • going to take his place. Well, there was this

  • young and upcoming star called The Rock. The Rock

  • came in and clearly took his place now. So now

  • the conversation is well, now, The Rock is doing

  • movies so who is going to come in and take his

  • place. Well, we've got this really bright and up

  • and coming star, you know, Brock less inner.

  • Those are just small examples of a very deep

  • talent roster with a lot of talented people, you

  • know, HHH, Undertaker that's really a staple with

  • us. You know, Chris Jericho, Ron Van Damme. All

  • of these are really talented performers. Booker T

  • is just an exceptional fellow who is coming along

  • very well. So it's always about building new

  • talent and we're always doing that with our

  • training camps, et cetera.

  • So stone cold has, I think, a short-term impact.

  • Not a long-term impact. The ratings were not, you

  • know, affected by his absence. Clearly it's a

  • loss when you have a popular star like that, but

  • it's short-term.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • I do have - regarding the progression of other

  • stars, you know, I know I may be getting a little

  • bit too much into fan dome where it's not really

  • going to count on the business. I would like to

  • ask you about that but I don't know if you would

  • think that's appropriate right here and now, in

  • terms of you mentioned these ear people, the

  • Undertaker who has been around for well over, I

  • believe it's 12 years now and then there's the

  • reputation of having the glass ceiling in the WWF

  • where other wrestlers can't get pushed, which like

  • I don't know it's going to be broken, but right

  • now, there's no one really to step in that void

  • right now. Yes, you're trying to push Brock less

  • inner, yes, you're trying to push Booker T, but

  • there really is no one there to take over the

  • void. Like you said, Rock is going to be going

  • for movies. HHH has not been drawing that well.

  • So, you know, at what level will these people

  • really get a full frontal push to help fill the

  • void?

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Well, Paul, you really are into fan dome at

  • this point.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Right. That's what I thought.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • But, you know, we're no different, you know,

  • with a coach with a new team that puts in a new

  • quarterback. You just have to have time to play

  • on the field and gel with the team. With that

  • experience and the creativity comes building the

  • fans.

  • It took us about two-and-a-half years to build The

  • Rock, so I think - I think we're on the right

  • track of knowing and having the right formula. It

  • just takes some time to do it.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Thank you very much.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Thank you, Paul.

  • Operator

  • Thank you. Our next question is

  • coming from Dennis MAC Alpine of MAC Alpine

  • associates.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Good morning. Would you - as a follow-up to

  • that, I gather we can assume, then, that The Rock

  • and stone cold are essentially gone as far as the

  • television shows?

  • Unknown Speaker

  • No, no, no. Not The Rock. Stone cold is - he

  • is on a suspension at this particular point for

  • his conduct. The Rock is, you know, splitting

  • time between careers of movie world as well as

  • WWE. Now, that has also a positive impact on WWE.

  • He will be, again in August and September, filming

  • a new movie, El Dorado, which again we are the

  • executive producers of and participant not only

  • with an executive producer's fee but also in

  • profit participation on gross, so with The Rock

  • being out on the one hand, we still have, you

  • know, a driver of revenues and brand extension and

  • growth by having one of our superstars into a

  • different medium.

  • Also, The Rock, you know, will be in and out

  • during our television programming, and will be

  • written into the story line, you know, where

  • appropriate.

  • So The Rock is still very much a part of who we

  • are and what we're about.

  • I think it's interesting, if you say okay, well,

  • The Rock was out, maybe that had something to do

  • with some decline in revenues. If you want to see

  • exactly what a driver is with the popularity of

  • the Rock outside of our own programming, we have

  • two of our shows on in Mexico City. The largest

  • viewing internationally of scorpion king happened

  • in Mexico City which absolutely blew us away that

  • there were that many screens in Mexico city to

  • view scorpion king and we are now going to have a

  • tour in Mexico city on September 28th is not only

  • did Rock being in Scorpion King also help drive

  • our brand but also opened a couple of doors for us

  • now to be in the 20,000 capacity stadium. I think

  • it's (inaudible) if you'll forgive my

  • pronunciation in Spanish. So brand extension,

  • brand rub, growth of our superstars outside of our

  • own medium is positive for us.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Can you comment as to what the - the total

  • take for the WWE was from Scorpion King?

  • Unknown Speaker

  • It hasn't been finalized yet except for our

  • executive producer's fee which was $2 million.

  • But there will - there's a participation in the

  • gross now, as we've gone over certain thresholds,

  • but that won't be settled out for a while.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Okay. And then in your expectations for next

  • year, you talked about advertising revenues of

  • about 75 million, which would be down, I guess,

  • about 10% from last year. In view of your comment

  • on the up front being strong, how did - how do

  • you get from one to the other?

  • Unknown Speaker

  • We've been particularly conservative, Dennis,

  • given some softness in the ratings to projects, I

  • think, what's a reasonable expectation in the

  • advertising marketplace. We did have a very good

  • up front. We reached the levels that we expected

  • to reach, which is good, and I think, you know,

  • our programming last year in the worst advertising

  • market where, you know, some advertising dollars

  • were off 15, 20, 25 percent and more, you know, we

  • were down about 7%. So as the market and the

  • advertising comes back strong, we can expect to go

  • 25 to 30% above where we were, so we - you know,

  • we projected conservatively based on holding

  • ratings where they are now and I think that's a

  • realistic approach. I have to tell you I expect

  • to beat that and I hope to.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • But you did, as far as the up front goes, sell

  • at the same ratings as you had for the last year?

  • Unknown Speaker

  • No. We didn't sell at the same ratings. We

  • adjusted our ratings and sold our up front what we

  • believe to be will be a very realistic stretch for

  • us this year.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Okay. Thank you.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Thank you, Dennis.

  • Operator

  • Thank you. Our next question is

  • coming from Mario Cabelli of Marathon partners.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Hi.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Hi, Mario.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • I'm wondering, have you been pleased with the

  • restructuring you announced in November? Have you

  • been getting the improved efficiencies that were

  • announced in the press release with the smaller

  • workforce? Thanks.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • the answer is yes and no. We accomplished what

  • we had opened with that restructuring. I am

  • not - I am not pleased at this particular point

  • with, you know, total SG and A, and that is something

  • that we will be working on throughout this year.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • Thank you.

  • Operator

  • I'd like to remind our audience for

  • any further questions or comments, to please press

  • 1 followed by 4 on your touch-tone phones at this

  • time.

  • Once again, ladies and gentlemen, for any further

  • questions or comments, please press 1, followed by

  • 4, on your touch-tone phones.

  • Ma'am, there appears to be no further questions in

  • our queue at this time. Do you have any closing

  • comments or remarks?

  • Unknown Speaker

  • I would just like to thank everyone for

  • participating with us this morning. We are - we

  • are really focusing and concentrating on our

  • creative and our programming, and as always,

  • looking to focus on our - you know, our

  • operations and maximizing our profitability. We

  • have some challenges and opportunities ahead of us

  • this year, and we will rise to the occasion on

  • both.

  • Unknown Speaker

  • I just want to - this is Tom Gibbons again. I

  • just want to thank everyone for joining us this

  • morning, and I want to remind you once again that

  • we do have more detailed guidance on our corporate

  • website, WWW.WWEcorpBIS.com. With that being

  • said, I want to thank you and we'll see you again

  • next quarter.

  • Operator

  • Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for

  • your participation. This does conclude this

  • morning's teleconference. You may disconnect your

  • lines at this time and have a wonderful day.