Streaming smackdown

Will WWE help Netflix widen base?

- GEETIKA SRIVASTAVA

WHEN NETFLIX ANNOUNCED its $5-billion, 10-year deal to bring WWE to its platform, it signaled two things. First, it was a major shift from the stance taken by Netflix's co-CEO Ted Sarandos, who has been openly dismissive of the viability of big sports rights. Second, it demonstrated the streamer's confidence that it could upgrade Indian audiences—accustomed to free or ad-supported streaming—to premium-priced sports content.

From April, Netflix will stream WWE content with Hindi commentary in the country. The offering includes weekly episodes of RAW, SmackDown, NXT, and major events like WrestleMania and Royal Rumble.

WWE programming has been a tent pole property on Ten Sports in India since 2002 and moved to the Sony platform when SPNI acquired Ten Sports from Zee Entertainment in 2016 and rebranded it as Sony Ten.

It is no gainsaying Sony made WWE accessible in the country—whether on your television set or when streaming on SonyLIV.

So what does the acquisition mean for Netflix, which has about 12 million subscribers in India? Can WWE justify the move to OTT when only 547 million Indians use streaming platforms against its TV audience base in the country pegged at 900 million?

Digital-first gambit