WWE Network subscriber count up to 1.5 million

Thanks to offering WrestleMania 32 free, paid subscribers to the WWE Network climbed up to 1.45 million paid on April 4, up from 1.31 million the year before. The company released updated numbers today in its second quarter financial report and that number jumped to 1.51 million.

Some detailed numbers, from the report:

Network revenues, which include revenue generated by WWE Network and pay-per-view, increased 29% to $51.8 million. WWE Network subscription revenue increased 25% to$45.9 million from $36.6 million in the prior year quarter based on a 25% year-over-year increase in average paid subscribers to 1.5 million.

Network segment OIBDA declined $22.9 million from the prior year quarter due to the impact of $21.5 million in production and talent costs associated with WrestleMania. Excluding the timing impact of WrestleMania, Network segment OIBDA declined $5.4 million as the growth in WWE Network subscription revenue was offset by increased programming expenses, including a $5.3 million allocation of certain expenses shared between the Company’s Network and Television segments. A portion of the increase in Network programming expenses relates to the Company’s previously communicated strategic investments.

The Company continued to increase the global subscriber base of WWE Network, as measured on a year-over-year basis, with launches over the trailing 12 months in six countries including Germany, Malaysia and Japan. WWE Network had 1.56 million total subscribers at the end of the second quarter, which represented a 27% increase from June 30, 2015. WWE Network had 1.13 million U.S. paid subscribers and 381,000 international paid subscribers at quarter-end.

Importantly, with the increased size and maturity of the network’s subscriber base, average monthly churn declined 20% to 9.9% for the first six months of 2016 from 12.3% for the comparable period in 2015.

A handy table:

Perhaps it’s not as fast as WWE would like but the growth of its Network continues.