MUMBAI: The wrestling space in India is sure heating up as players are moving from their gorilla position towards the ring! Close on the heels of TNA announcing its plans to launch live wrestling events in Mumbai in December, comes the news that WWE will be unveiling its direct-to-consumer subscription based video streaming service WWE Network in the Indian subcontinent including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
The sport of wrestling has been gaining prominence on Indian television lately. With wrestling action being a major ratings draw for Ten Sports, last year the sportscaster extended its rights with WWE for a period of five years. Not long after,Sony Six signed a long-term telecast deal with TNA wrestling, which runs through 2022. Now with WWE Network set to launch in India on 2 November, both parties are prepping up their A-Show.
The WWE subscription service will be priced at $9.99 per month. It was launched in the US only last year and features premium live content as well as pay-per-view and VOD (video-on-demand) content.
WWE fans in India can sign up online by going to WWENetwork.com and can watch WWE Network on their desktop, laptop and mobile devices.
Subscribers will receive the first month of service free and have access to the US English language version of WWE Network. Subscribers will get access to 24/7 scheduled programming and VOD library with more than 3,700 hours of content, including Raw and SmackDown re-airs, and every WWE, WCW and ECW pay-per-view.
In addition, all 12 WWE pay-per-views will be available to subscribers 24 hours after they air in India, and will be broadcast live on WWE Network beginning in 2017.
“India is a strategically important market for WWE and we are thrilled to make WWE Network available to our fans there. The global expansion of WWE Network is a key driver in our commitment to growing the WWE brand internationally,” said WWE chief strategy and financial officer George Barrios.
WWE Network will be made available on additional devices, including Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Roku and Smart TVs prior to Survivor Series on 22 November.
WWE Network programming highlights include Breaking Ground, Swerved, The Monday Night War, Stone Cold Podcast Live!, NXT Takeover Live!, WWE 24 andTotal Divas (seasons 1-3).
