Scott fischer dippin dots net worth

Management Case Study

CASES

CASE 11 QVC*

When the Mobile Satisfaction Index was released on February 13, 2013, by Foresee, an organization that carries out surveys of customer satisfaction, QVC was ranked as one of the top three e-retailers on the mobile platform. Although the firm has already been recognized for its customer service for its television and Internet home shopping in many other surveys, the Foresee ranking was in the emerging mobile segment. “Customers are using their mobile phones as integrated parts of their shopping experience,” said Eric Feinberg, one of the directors at Foresee.1

Since it was launched in 1986, QVC has rapidly grown to become the largest television shopping network. Although it entered the market a couple of years after rival Home Shopping Network, the channel has managed to build a leading position. By 2012, its reach had extended to over 200 million households all over the world. It regularly ships almost 165 million products annually to customers, resulting in almost $8.5 million in sales (see Exhibits 1 and 2). It has been attracting audiences to watch its shows across the U.S., U.K., Germany, Japan, and since 2010, also in Italy (see Exhibit 3).

EXHIBIT 1 QVC Annual Sales

2012 $10.1 billion

2011 9.6 billion

2010 7.8 billion

2009 7.4 billion

2008 7.3 billion

2007 7.4 billion

2006 7.1 billion

2004 5.7 billion

2001 3.8 billion

1998 2.4 billion

1995 1.6 billion

1992 0.9 billion

1989 0.2 billion

Source: QVC, Liberty Media.

EXHIBIT 2 QVC Income Statement*

Years ended December 31

PRINTED BY: nceo87@live.com. Printing is for personal, private use only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted without publisher's prior permission. Violators will be prosecuted.

2012 2011 2010 2009 2008

Net revenue $8,516 $8,268 $7,807 $7,352 $7,303

Cost of sales (5,419) (5,278) (5,006) (4,719) (4,682)

Gross profit 3,097 2,990 2,801 2,604 2,584

Operating expenses† (715) (744) (715) (684) (703)

S, G, & A expenses (554) (513) (415) (364) (379)

Operating cash flow 1,828 1,733 1,671 1,556 1,502

Stock compensation (34) (22) (18) (16) (15)

Depreciation & amortization‡ (526) (574) (523) (526) (531)

Operating income $1,268 $1,137 $1,130 $1,014 $956

*All figures in millions of U.S. dollars.

† Operating expenses consist of commissions and license fees, order processing and customer service, credit card processing fees, and provision for doubtful accounts.

‡ Depreciation and amortization includes amortization of intangible assets recorded in connection with the purchase of QVC by Liberty Media.

Source: Liberty Media, QVC.

*Case developed by Professor Jamal Shamsie, Michigan State University, with the assistance of Professor Alan B. Eisner, Pace University. Material has been drawn from published sources to be used for purposes of class discussion. Copyright © 2013 Jamal Shamsie and Alan B. Eisner.

C64

EXHIBIT 3 Geographical Breakdown of QVC Revenue*

Years Ended December 31

2012 2011 2010 2009 2008

U.S. $5,585 $5,412 $5,235 $4,965 $4,911

U.K. 641 626 599 578 660

Germany 956 1,068 956 942 954

Japan 1,247 1,127 1,015 867 778

*All figures in millions of U.S. dollars.

Source: Liberty Media, QVC

The success of QVC is largely driven by its popular television home shopping shows that feature a wide variety of eye-catching products, many of which are unique to the channel. It organizes product searches in cities all over the U.S. in order to continuously find new offerings from entrepreneurs that can be pitched at customers. During these events, the firm has to screen hundreds of products in order to select those that it will offer. In one of its recent searches, QVC had to evaluate the appeal of products such as nail clippers that catch clippings, bicycle seats built for bigger bottoms and novelty items shaped like coffins.

PRINTED BY: nceo87@live.com. Printing is for personal, private use only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted without publisher's prior permission. Violators will be prosecuted.

But QVC is also trying to entice new customers by battling a perception that direct-response TV retailers sell just hokey, flimsy, or kitschy goods. Its jewelry selection features prestigious brands such as Tacori, which is worn by TV stars. It offers clothing from couture designers such as Marc Bouwer, who has made clothing for Angelina Jolie and Halle Berry. And it has recently added exclusive products from reality stars such as Kim Kardashian and Rachel Zoe. Such vendors have introduced thousands to QVC, often through social media like Facebook and Twitter. “Rachel Zoe brings so many new customers it’s staggering,” said CEO Michael George.2

Furthermore, QVC has expanded its shopping experience to the Internet, attracting more than 9.5 million unique monthly visitors by early 2012. It has continued to attract customers from its television channel to its website, making it one of the leading multimedia retailers. Building on this, the firm has been creating a family of mobile shopping applications for smartphones and tablets. Although QVC is still developing this segment, mobile applications are already accounting for almost 5 percent of their sales.

Pursuing a Leading Position

QVC was founded by Joseph Segel in June 1986 and began broadcasting in November of the same year. In early 1986, Segel had tuned in to the Home Shopping Network, which had been launched two years earlier. He had not been particularly impressed with the crude programming and the down-market products of the firm. But Segel was convinced that another televised shopping network would have the potential to attract a large enough client base. He also felt that such an enterprise should be able to produce significant profits, because the operating expenses for a shopping network could be kept relatively low.

Over the next few months, Segel raised $30 million in start-up capital, hired several seasoned television executives, and launched his own shopping network. Operating out of headquarters that were located in West Chester, Pennsylvania, QVC offered 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week television shopping to consumers at home. By the end of its first year of operation, QVC had managed to extend its reach to 13 million homes by satellite and cable systems. 700,000 viewers had already become customers, resulting in the shipping of 3 million orders. Its sales had already topped $100 million, and the firm was actually able to show a small profit.

Segel attributed the instant success of his company to the potential offered by television shopping. “Television’s combination of sight, sound, and motion is the best way to sell a product. It is more effective than presenting a product in print or just putting the product on a store shelf,” he stated. “The cost-efficiency comes from the cable distribution system. It is far more economical than direct mail, print advertising, or traditional retail store distribution.”3

In the fall of 1988, Segel acquired the manufacturing facilities, proprietary technology, and trademark rights of the Diamonique Corporation, which produced a wide range of simulated gemstones and jewelry that could be sold on QVC’s shows. Over the next couple of years, Segel expanded QVC by acquiring competitors, such as the Cable Value Network Shopping channel.

By 1993, QVC had overtaken Home Shopping Network to become the leading televised shopping channel in terms of sales and profits. Its reach extended to over 80 percent of all cable homes and to 3 million satellite dishes. Segel retired during the same year, passing control of the company to Barry Diller. Since then, QVC’s sales have continued to grow at a substantial rate. As a result, it has consistently widened the gap between its sales and those of Home Shopping Network, which has remained its closest competitor.

Striving for Retailing Excellence

Over the years, QVC has managed to establish itself as the world’s preeminent virtual shopping mall that never closes. Its televised shopping channel has become a place where customers around the world can, and do, shop at any hour at the rate of more than five customers per second. It sells a wide variety of products, using a combination of description and demonstration by live program hosts. QVC is extremely selective in choosing its hosts, screening as many as 3,000 applicants annually in order to pick three. New hosts are trained for at least six months before they are allowed to get on a show. In addition, most of the products are offered on regularly scheduled shows, each of which is focused on a particular type of product and a well-defined market. Each of these shows typically lasts for one hour and is based on a theme such as Now You’re Cooking or Cleaning Solutions (see Exhibit 4).

C65

PRINTED BY: nceo87@live.com. Printing is for personal, private use only. No part of this book may be

reproduced or transmitted without publisher's prior permission. Violators will be prosecuted.

C65

EXHIBIT 4 Sample of QVC Programming

Time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

12:00 AM

Barbara Bixby Jewelry

Company’s Coming Reed/Barton

Kathy Van Zeeland Accessories

Victor Costa Occasion

Gifts of Style

Bose Sound Innovation

Kitchen Aid

2:00 AM

Tignanello Handbags

Dennis Basso Boutique

T3 Hair Care Tacori for Epiphany Jewelry

Late Night Gifts

Linea by Louis Dell’Olio

Ecclissi Watches

5:00 AM

Savings by Jeanne Bice

Steel by Design Jewelry

Chaz Dean Hair and Body Care

Boyds Bears and Friends

Arte d’Argento Silver

Gold Jewelry Special

Practical Kitchen Aid

9:00 AM

Barbara Bixby Jewelry

Slatkin & Co. Home Accessories

Mary Beth Accessories

Susan Graver Style

Denim & Company

AM Style Great Gifts by KitchenAid

12:00 noon

Q Check Gifts

Q Check Gifts Q Check Gifts Q Check Gifts Q Check Gifts

Judith Ripka Collection

Gifts from David’s Kitchen

3:00 PM

Barbara Bixby Jewelry

Dennis Basso Boutique

Bags and Shoes Great Gifts Gifts of Style

QVC Beauty Exclusives

Gifts from David’s Kitchen

6:00 PM

NFL Shop Enjoyable Entertaining Reed/Barton

Kathy Van Zeeland Accessories

Philosophy Beauty

Great Gifts Gifts for Mom From Dell

8:00 PM

PM Style Kitchen Gifts Reed/Barton

NARS Cosmetics

Northern Nights Bedding

What’s in my beauty bag?

Saturday Night Beauty

From Dell

10:00 PM

Tignanello Handbags

Tuesday Night Gifts Reed/Barton

Designer Couple Handbags

Tacori for Epiphany Jewelry

Gem Fest Special

Temptation Presentable Ovenware

Nintendo featuring Wii

Source: QVC.

QVC frequently entices celebrities, such as clothing designers or book authors, to appear live on special program segments in order to sell their own products. In order to prepare them to succeed, celebrities are given training on how to best pitch their offerings. On some occasions, customers are able to call in and have on-air conversations with program hosts and visiting celebrities. Celebrities are therefore often schooled in QVC’s “backyard-fence” style, which means conversing with viewers the way they would chat with a friendly neighbor. “They’re just so down-home, so it’s like they’re right in your living room demonstrating,” said a long time QVC customer.4

In spite of the folksy presentation, the sales are minutely managed. Behind the scenes, a producer scans nine television and computer screens to track sales of each featured item. “We track new orders per minute in increments of six seconds; we can look backward in time and see what it was that drove that spike,” said Doug Rose, who oversees programming and marketing.5Hosts and guests are prompted to make adjustments in their pitch that might increase sales. A beauty designer was recently asked to rub an eyeliner on her hand, which immediately led to a surge of new orders.

QVC’s themed programs are telecast live 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to millions of households worldwide. The shopping channel transmits its programming live from its central production facilities in Pennsylvania through

PRINTED BY: nceo87@live.com. Printing is for personal, private use only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted without publisher's prior permission. Violators will be prosecuted.

uplinks to a satellite. The representatives who staff QVC’s four call centers, which handled more than 180 million calls last year, are well trained to take orders.

Of all the orders placed with QVC, more than 90 percent are shipped within 48 hours from one of their distribution centers. The distribution centers have a combined floor space equivalent to the size of over 100 football fields. Finally, everyone at QVC works hard to make sure that every item works as it should before it is shipped and that its packaging will protect it during the shipping process. “Nothing ships unless it is quality-inspected first,” said Paul Day, the logistics manager for QVC. “Since our product is going business-to-consumer, there’s no way to fix or change a product-related problem.”6

C66

Searching for Profitable Products

More than 100 experienced, informed buyers comb the world on a regular basis to search for new products to launch on QVC. The shopping channel concentrates on unique products that can be demonstrated on live television. Furthermore, the price of these products must be high enough for viewers to justify the additional shipping and handling charge. Over the course of a typical year, QVC carries more than 60,000 products. As many as 2,000 items are typically offered in any given week, of which about 15 percent are new products for the network. QVC’s suppliers range from some of the world’s biggest companies to small entrepreneurial enterprises.

All new products must, however, pass through stringent tests that are carried out by QVC’s in-house Quality Assurance Lab. In many cases, this inspection process is carried out manually by the firm’s employees. Only 15 percent of the products pass the firm’s rigorous quality inspection on first try and as many as a third are never offered to the public because they fail altogether. In addition, Jeffrey Rayport, author of a book on customer service, states that “QVC staff look for a product that is complex enough—or interesting enough—that the host can talk about it on air.”7

About a third of QVC’s sales come from broadly available national brands. The firm has been able to build trust among its customers in large part through offering these well-known brands. QVC also relies upon promotional campaigns with a variety of existing firms for another third of its sales. It has made deals with firms ranging from Dell to Target to Bath & Body Works for special limited-time promotional offerings. But QVC has been most successful with products that are exclusively sold on QVC or not readily available through other distribution channels. Although such products account for another third of its sales, the firm has been able to earn higher margins with these proprietary products, many of which come from firms that are either start-ups or new entrants into the U.S. market.

Most vendors are attracted to QVC because they reap higher profits selling through QVC than they would make by selling through physical stores. Stores typically require vendors to help to train or pay the salesforce and participate in periodic sales where prices are discounted. QVC rarely sells products at discount prices. Maureen Kelly, founder of Tarte Cosmetics, said she typically makes more from an eight-minute segment on QVC than she used to make in a month at a high-end department store.

Apart from searching for exclusive products, QVC has also been trying to move away from some product categories, such as home appliances and electronic gadgets, which offer lower margins. It has been gradually expanding into product categories that have higher margins, such as cosmetics, apparel, food, and toys. Several of these new categories have also displayed the strongest rates of growth in sales for the shopping channel over the past couple of years.

Expanding Upon the Customer Base

Since its start-up, QVC’s shopping channel has managed to gradually penetrate almost all of the cable television and broadcast satellite homes in the U.S. But only about 10 percent of the households that it reaches have actually bought anything from the network. However, QVC has developed a large customer base, many of whom make as many as 10 purchases in a year. QVC devotees readily call in to the live segments to offer product testimonials, are up on the personal lives of their favorite program hosts, and generally view the channel as entertaining. “As weird as it may sound, for people who love the network, it’s good company,” said Rayport.8

QVC is also hoping to attract new customers on the basis of the reasonably strong reputation that surveys indicate that it has established among a large majority of its current buyers. By its initials alone, QVC had promised that it would

PRINTED BY: nceo87@live.com. Printing is for personal, private use only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted without publisher's prior permission. Violators will be prosecuted.

deliver Quality, Value, and Convenience to its viewers. More than three-quarters of the shopping channel’s customers have given it a score of 7 out of 7 for trustworthiness. This has led most of its customers to recommend it to their friends.

QVC has also benefited from the growing percentage of women entering the workforce, resulting in a significant increase in dual-income families. Although the firm’s current customer base spans several socioeconomic groups, it is led by young professional families who have above average disposable income. They also enjoy various forms of “thrill- seeking” activities and rank shopping relatively higher as a leisure activity when compared to the typical consumer.

The firm is also trying to increase sales by making it easier for customers to buy its products by adding features such as an interactive service that would allow them to purchase whatever it is offering on its shopping channel with a single click of the remote. QVC also provides a credit program to allow customers to pay for goods over a period of several months. Everything it sells is also backed by a 30-day unconditional money-back guarantee. Furthermore, QVC does not impose any hidden charges, such as a “restocking fee” for returned merchandise. These policies help the channel to attract customers for products that they can view but are not able to either touch or feel.

In 2012, QVC built on its existing customer base by acquiring Send the Trend, Inc., an e-commerce destination known for trendy fashion and beauty products. It uses proprietary technology to deliver monthly personalized recommendations that can easily be shared by customers over their social networks on an assortment of prestigious brands in jewelry, beauty, and fashion accessories. “The teams at QVC and Share the Trend share a passion for bringing the customer what she wants, in the way she wants it,” said Claire Watts, the U.S.-based CEO

of QVC.9

C67

PRINTED BY: nceo87@live.com. Printing is for personal, private use only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted without publisher's prior permission. Violators will be prosecuted.

C67

Positioning for Future Growth

In spite of its success on television, QVC has not ignored opportunities that are emerging in online shopping. Since 1995, the firm has offered a website to complement its television channel, which has provided it with another form of access to customers. Initially, the site offered more detailed information about QVC offerings. Since then, it has branched out to develop its own customer base by featuring many products that have not been recently shown on its television channel. Over the last few years, QVC has been fine tuning its website by offering mobile phone, interactive-television, and iPad apps.

By 2012, QVC.com, a once-negligible part of the QVC empire, accounted for about a third of the firm’s domestic revenue. CEO Michael George recently stated that 60 percent of QVC’s new customers in the United States buy on the Internet or on mobile devices. “The online business is becoming such a crucial part of the business for QVC,” remarked Douglas Anmuth, an analyst at Barclay’s Capital.10Furthermore, QVC.com is now more profitable than QVC’s television operation. It needs fewer call-center workers, and while QVC must share profits with cable companies on TV orders, it does not have to pay them for online orders for products that have not been featured on the air for 24 hours.

Its online efforts have not led QVC to move its emphasis away from television home shopping. The recent launch of a channel in Italy has proved to be very successful, generating 58 percent more sales than the overall average that it generates from all of its other markets. The firm is making preparations to start a channel in China, providing it with access to a huge developing market. It also has plans to start operations in more European countries.

For many of its loyal consumers, nothing will ever replace shopping on television. The website does not offer the hybrid of talk show and sales pitch that attracts audiences to the QVC shopping channel. Online shoppers also miss out on the interaction between hosts and shoppers and the continuous feedback about the time that they may have to order before an item is sold out. “You know, on Sundays I might find a program on Lifetime Movie Network, but whatever I’m watching, if it’s not QVC, when the commercial comes on I’ll flip it back to QVC,” said one loyal QVC fan. “I’m just stuck on them.”11

ENDNOTES 1. Foresee. 2013. Amazon, QVC, Apple Dominate the ForeSee mobile retail satisfaction index as customer experience improves. PR Newswire,

February 12. 2. Clifford, S. 2010. Can QVC translate its pitch online? New York Times, November 21: B7. 3. QVC. 1988. QVC Annual Report, 1987–1988. 4. Clifford. 2010. Can QVC translate its pitch online? 5. Ibid. 6. Gilligan, E. 2008. The show must go on. Journal of Commerce, April 12: 1. 7. USA Today. 2008. May 5: 2B. 8. Ibid. 9. QVC. 2012. Send the Trend relaunches with QVC to bring shoppers a more personalized e-commerce experience. PR Newswire, October 2.

10. Clifford. 2010. Can QVC translate its pitch online? 11. Ibid.

PRINTED BY: nceo87@live.com. Printing is for personal, private use only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted without publisher's prior permission. Violators will be prosecuted.

C68

CASES

CASE 12 WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT*

In February 2013, World Wrestling Entertainment announced that it had attracted one million subscribers to its programming on YouTube, surpassing popular channels such as ESPN, HBO, Comedy Central, and Discovery Networks. Since its launch in 2010, the firm’s YouTube channel has shown remarkable growth, showing a 340 percent increase in subscribers just over the past year. WWE premiered almost 30 hours of original programming on YouTube in 2012, with shows such as Backstage Fallout and Outside the Ring.

The success of WWE on YouTube has helped to further its goal of coupling its live wrestling matches with programming on television, on the Web and on mobile devices, allowing it to become one of the world’s most social brands. The firm added to its presence on the Internet with an exclusive, multiyear agreement to bring WWE programming to Hulu Plus, offering next-day access to its television programs and other exclusive shows. Its apps for smartphones and tablets have also taken off, with the WWE Active being downloaded 3.5 million times since its launch in 2012.

All of these achievements clearly indicate that WWE has moved out of a slump that it had endured between 2001 and 2005. During the 1990s, Vince McMahon had used a potent mix of shaved, pierced, and pumped-up muscled hunks; buxom, scantily clad, and sometimes cosmetically enhanced beauties; and body-bashing clashes of good versus evil to build an empire that claimed over 35 million fans. Furthermore, the vast majority of these fans were males between the ages of 12 and 34, representing the demographic segment that makes most advertisers drool.

Just when it looked like everything was going well, WWE hit a rough patch. The firm’s failure with a football league during 2001, which folded after just one season, was followed by a drop in revenues from its core wrestling businesses. WWE was struggling with its efforts to build new wrestling stars and to introduce new characters into its shows. Some of its most valuable younger viewers were also turning to new reality-based shows on television, such as Survivor, Fear Factor, and Jackass.

Since 2005, however, WWE has been rebuilding its fan base through live shows, television programming, Web and mobile content, and consumer products. The firm has been turning pro wrestling into a perpetual road show that makes millions of fans pass through turnstiles in a growing number of locations around the globe. Its flagship television programs, Raw and Smackdown!, are broadcast in 30 languages in 145 countries, reaching 600 million homes around the world. WWE has been building on its audience with programming such as WWE NXT on its website and WWE Universe-on-the-go on mobile devices. Finally, the firm has been signing pacts with dozens of licensees, including one with toymaker Mattel, to sell DVDs, video games, toys, and trading cards. “We continue to see the distribution of our creative content through various emerging channels,” stated Linda McMahon, who stepped down as president and CEO in 2009 to pursue a career in politics.1

Developing a Wrestling Empire

Most of the success of the WWE can be attributed to the persistent efforts of Vince McMahon. He was a self-described juvenile delinquent who went to military school as a teenager to avoid being sent to a reformatory institution. Around 1970, Vince joined his father’s wrestling company, which operated in northeastern cities such as New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC. He did on-air commentary, developed scripts, and otherwise promoted wrestling matches. Vince bought the wrestling firm from his father in 1982, eventually renaming it World Wrestling Federation. At that time, wrestling was managed by regional fiefdoms where everyone avoided encroaching on anyone else’s territory. Vince began to change all that by paying local television stations around the country to broadcast his matches. His

PRINTED BY: nceo87@live.com. Printing is for personal, private use only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted without publisher's prior permission. Violators will be prosecuted.

aggressive pursuit of audiences across the country gradually squeezed out most of the other rivals. “I banked on the fact that they were behind the times, and they were,” said Vince.2

Soon after, Vince broke another taboo by admitting to the public that wrestling matches were scripted. Although he had made this admission in order to avoid the scrutiny of state athletic commissions, wrestling fans appreciated the honesty. The WWF began to draw in more fans through the elaborate story lines and the captivating characters of its wrestling matches. The firm turned wrestlers such as Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant into mainstream icons of pop culture. By the late 1980s, the WWF’s Raw Is War had become a top-rated show on cable, and the firm had also begun to offer pay-per-view shows.

*Case developed by Professor Jamal Shamsie, Michigan State University, with the assistance of Professor Alan B. Eisner, Pace University. Material has been drawn from published sources to be used for purposes of class discussion. Copyright © 2013 Jamal Shamsie and Alan B. Eisner.

Vince faced his most formidable competition after 1988, when Ted Turner bought out World Championship Wrestling, one of the few major rivals that was still operating. He spent millions luring away WWF stars, such

C69

as Hulk Hogan and Macho Man Randy Savage. He used these stars to launch a show on his own TNT channel to go up against WWF’s major show, Raw Is War. Although Turner’s new show caused a temporary dip in the ratings for WWF’s shows, Vince fought back with pumped-up scripts, mouthy muscle-men, and lycra-clad women. “Ted Turner decided to come after me and all of my talent,” growled Vince, “and now he’s where he should be.”3

In 2001 Vince was finally able to acquire WCW from Turner’s parent firm, AOL Time Warner, for a bargain price of $5 million. Because of the manner in which he eliminated most of his rivals, Vince has earned a reputation for being as aggressive and ambitious as any character in the ring. Paul MacArthur, publisher of Wrestling Perspective, an industry newsletter, praised his accomplishments: “McMahon understands the wrestling business better than anyone else. He’s considered by most in the business to be brilliant.”4

In 2002 WWF was also hit by a ruling by a British court that their original WWF acronym belonged to the World Wildlife Fund. The firm had to undergo a major branding transition, changing its well-known name and triple logo from WWF to WWE. Although the change in name was costly, it is not clear that it hurt the firm in the long run. “Their product is really the entertainment. It’s the stars. It’s the bodies,” said Larry McNaughton, managing director and principal of CoreBrand, a branding consultancy.5 Vince’s wife, Linda, stated that the new name might actually be beneficial for the firm; “Our new name puts the emphasis on the ‘E’ for entertainment.”6

Creating a Script for Success

After taking over the firm, Vince began to change the entire focus of the wrestling shows. He looked to television soap operas for enhancing the entertainment value of his live events. Vince reduced the amount of actual wrestling and replaced it with wacky, yet somewhat compelling, story lines. He began to develop interesting characters and story lines by employing techniques that were similar to those being used by many successful television shows. There was great deal of reliance on the “good versus evil” or “settling the score” themes in the development of the plots for his wrestling matches. The plots and subplots ended up providing viewers with a mix of romance, sex, sports, comedy, and violence against a backdrop of pyrotechnics.

Over time, the scripts for the matches became tighter, with increasingly intricate story lines, plots, and dialogue. All the details of every match were worked out well in advance, leaving the wrestlers themselves to decide only the manner in which they would dispatch their opponents to the mat. Vince’s use of characters was well thought out, and he began to refer to his wrestlers as “athletic performers,” who were selected on the basis of their acting ability in addition to their physical stamina.

Vince also ensured that his firm owned the rights to the characters that were played by his wrestlers. This would allow him to continue to exploit the characters that he developed for his television shows, even after the wrestler that played that character had left his firm. By now, Vince holds the rights to many characters that have become familiar to audiences around the world.

PRINTED BY: nceo87@live.com. Printing is for personal, private use only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted without publisher's prior permission. Violators will be prosecuted.

By the late 1990s Vince had two weekly shows on television. Besides the original flagship program on the USA cable channel, WWE had added a Smackdown! show on the UPN broadcast channel. He developed a continuous story line using the same characters so that his audience would be driven to both the shows. But the acquisition of the WCW resulted in a significant increase in the number of wrestling stars under contract. Trying to incorporate more than 150 characters into the story lines for WWE’s shows proved to be a challenging task. At the same time, the move of Raw to the Spike TV channel resulted in a loss of viewers.

In October 2005, WWE signed a new agreement with NBC that moved Raw back to its USA channel. Its other show, Smackdown!, is now carried by the Syfy channel, which has been climbing in the charts. Its newest show, The Main Event, is featured on the local channels that are tied to the Ion network. All of these programs have done well in ratings, particularly for male viewers, because of the growth in popularity of a new breed of characters, such as John Cena, Chris Benoit, and Ray Mysterio. The visibility of these characters has also been enhanced through profiles on the WWE website and mobile apps.

Managing a Road Show

A typical work week for the WWE can be grueling for the McMahons, for the talent, and for the crew. The organization is now putting on almost 300 live shows a year, requiring everyone to be on the road most days of the week. The touring crew includes over 200 crew members, including stage hands. All of WWE’s live events, including those that are used for its two long-standing weekly shows, Raw and Smackdown!, as well as the newer ones, are held in different cities. Consequently, the crew is always packing up a dozen 18-wheelers and driving hundreds of miles to get from one performance to the other. Since there are no repeats of any WWE shows, the live performances must be held all year round.