If you’re interested in the WWE Network but haven’t yet jumped in, now’s a good time to sign up. According to WWE CEO Vince McMahon, new subscribers will get the entire month of November for free.
The free trial includes a live stream of the Survivor Series pay-per-view event on November 23, as well as unlimited access to the WWE Network’s vast VOD library. Additionally, WWE has eliminated the six-month commitment formerly imposed on all Network subscribers.
The current promotion is the latest in a string of efforts to revive the flagging service. At $9.99 a month, the WWE Network seems like a good deal. Not only do subscribers get access to all 12 pay-per-view events (which cost $50-$60 each through traditional cable providers), but the price also includes full access to WWE’s video archive and a slate of original programming.
Despite its excellent value, however, the WWE Network got off to a rocky start. Technical issues at launch turned away many would-be subscribers, and the niche content — it’s all wrestling-related, after all — means its potential user base is much smaller than those of services like Netflix and Hulu.
In its latest press release, WWE claimed that the Network had about 723,000 subscribers, far fewer than the 1 to 2 million originally projected for the end of 2014. WWE officials previously estimated that they’d need about a million subscriptions to break even.
