Post by DA NEMISIS on Feb 26, 2008 0:14:27 GMT -5
As I am a complete nerd and obviously have a lot of time on my hands. (even while working) I have the ability of going to someone website and delving into their past websites. For example, i can look at the WWF website from 1998. Or the ECW website from 1995.
Well, I did this for the original NWA:TNA website and discovered an open letter from Jerry Jarrett (jeff's father) regarding the launch of the TNA branch of the NWA. Very good read. Enjoy...
OPEN LETTER TO FANS FROM JERRY JARRETT
I want to take this opportunity to explain the concept of our new company and to address some questions that some of you may have about our business plan.
In the days since we made the announcement about NWA TNA: Total Nonstop Action there has been a lot written on the internet about the concept. Some people seem to understand what we're planning to do, some don't. Some are predicting failure without giving us the chance to explain our concept. Some see us as a savior for wrestlers and a sure fire success. I hope, through this "open letter", that I will be able to explain our new concept and that you will then be able to reach your own conclusions.
A traditional wrestling company produces weekly programming that airs on cable or broadcast stations, and in the process incurs a great expense related to production, staffing, and other associated costs. That kind of weekly programming is used as an infomercial to sell pay-per-view events as well as to generate all other revenue streams for the company such as ticket sales, licensing, merchandise, etc. If the weekly programming is very successful, the show can be a revenue stream itself through advertising sales. When a company takes this traditional approach a budget of $30 to $50 million dollars is required. There are enormous costs associated with production, staffing, travel, talent salary, etc. We worked for almost a year on taking that approach but J Sports & Entertainment could not fund those kinds of costs and was not able to secure the needed financing from investment bankers to fund a brand new company with no proven track record. We had been able to secure financial backing to attempt to purchase World Championship Wrestling because at the time it was an ongoing company and was not a start up.
Several groups emerged after the WWF purchased WCW last year and they all attempted to go about starting up a wrestling company in the traditional way described earlier. These groups approached FX, USA, and other cable operators but were unable to secure a time slot.
In May of last year, while on a fishing trip with Bob Ryder and my son Jeff, we had a conversation that pointed us in a totally different direction. The question was asked, "Why not eliminate the traditional method of doing things and go directly to pay-per-view with your product?" The more we thought about it, the more sense the idea seemed to make and that's precisely what we decided to do.
To truly understand our concept, one must view our weekly show as a broadcast product (such as RAW as an example) presented on a pay-per-view format. To see our stars and our storylines, the only way to do it is to watch the weekly pay-per-view program. When looking at our program from a value standpoint, we will be offering 8 hours of pay-per-view for under $40.00 per month. WWE offers 3 hours of pay-per-view per month for $34.95.
The WWE creative team fights a continuous battle of trying to write compelling storylines for their "free" programs in order to keep ratings high, but they still have to hold back enough to make their pay-per-view worth ordering. That's a battle we won't have to fight. Every one of our programs will be written without the need to hold anything back.
We believe our concept offers many advantages as far as quality of life for the talent who will be a part of our program. Some of the advantages include the ability to work as a truly independent contractor, the ability to make a living working as few as 26 dates a year which will add several years to the talent's longevity, and finally and perhaps most importantly the ability to spend time at home with family.
WWE currently offers the only option for a professional wrestler in the United States. In spite of offering 28 hours of programming a month on cable and broadcast television, and in spite of splitting their roster into two separate "brands", WWE can't use all of the great talent that is available today. We hope to give some of that available talent a stage and a chance to follow their dream.
My personal history in the business has given me the opportunity to help launch the career of many of the top stars in the business today. Steve Austin was in my wrestling school in Dallas. During my tenure in the WWF, I brought Kane up for a tryout but Vince McMahon didn't think he was ready so he returned to Memphis to continue his progress until he was called up to be involved with the Undertaker storyline. I point out these two examples to explain that there are many future superstars that will find their chance to reach their dreams through our new venture. I am excited to have a chance to help the next generation of superstars launch their careers.
I have grandchildren now and I'm concerned about what they can go to their room and watch on cable or broadcast television. Our product will be available only on pay-per-view and will come with a PG14 rating. That means it will not be recommended for small children. I well understand the position that WWE finds itself because of the financial pressures of their stockholders and their advertisers. Our concept will not expose us to the same pressures and we will be able to attract the 18-35 male demographic without being concerned with having to market to children. I have read some news sources that predict we can't compete with WWE. In this one area, we have an advantage over WWE.
We are fortunate that so many great companies have gotten on board with our new company. We chose to outsource many duties that a traditional company would do in-house. Our limited finances made this decision necessary, but in so doing, we have assembled quality staff that no other company has available. We have better accounting, better legal, better event booking, better public relations, better pay-per-view consultants, and better production, than we could have put together had we had unlimited financial resources. The people who have joined our project simply could not have been bought.
And finally and probably most importantly, the cable and satellite industry understood our new concept and believed in it. We see it as the natural next genesis in television. I started producing professional wrestling when each city had only 3 television channels. I watched as the UHF stations were developed and each city had 5 or 6 channels. Next came cable television, which was truly groundbreaking because viewers were asked to pay for more channel options. We have seen that viewers will pay an additional fee for premium channels [HBO and Showtime to name a couple], in addition to their monthly cable bill. We have seen that wrestling fans will pay for quality events such as WWE's monthly shows. We think the time has come that fans will pay a minimal weekly fee for a quality, commercial free, weekly wrestling show. No person was more excited when WWE set a new benchmark with 1.3 million in buys for their last edition of Wrestlemania. Remember that fans bought this event in spite of watching the same stars for 28 hours on free, broadcast television, the month prior to the pay-per-view.
We're all very excited about this project and we are pleased with the enthusiastic response we have received from so many of you through the email messages you have sent to us. Your support can help make NWA TNA: Total Nonstop Action a success and we guarantee you that we will work as hard as we possibly can to make sure we present the best program possible on a weekly basis.
Sincerely,
Jerry Jarrett
(i would like to state I have not written this letter above and this is straight from the old website of NWA:TNA, 2nd June 2002)
Thank You
Well, I did this for the original NWA:TNA website and discovered an open letter from Jerry Jarrett (jeff's father) regarding the launch of the TNA branch of the NWA. Very good read. Enjoy...
OPEN LETTER TO FANS FROM JERRY JARRETT
I want to take this opportunity to explain the concept of our new company and to address some questions that some of you may have about our business plan.
In the days since we made the announcement about NWA TNA: Total Nonstop Action there has been a lot written on the internet about the concept. Some people seem to understand what we're planning to do, some don't. Some are predicting failure without giving us the chance to explain our concept. Some see us as a savior for wrestlers and a sure fire success. I hope, through this "open letter", that I will be able to explain our new concept and that you will then be able to reach your own conclusions.
A traditional wrestling company produces weekly programming that airs on cable or broadcast stations, and in the process incurs a great expense related to production, staffing, and other associated costs. That kind of weekly programming is used as an infomercial to sell pay-per-view events as well as to generate all other revenue streams for the company such as ticket sales, licensing, merchandise, etc. If the weekly programming is very successful, the show can be a revenue stream itself through advertising sales. When a company takes this traditional approach a budget of $30 to $50 million dollars is required. There are enormous costs associated with production, staffing, travel, talent salary, etc. We worked for almost a year on taking that approach but J Sports & Entertainment could not fund those kinds of costs and was not able to secure the needed financing from investment bankers to fund a brand new company with no proven track record. We had been able to secure financial backing to attempt to purchase World Championship Wrestling because at the time it was an ongoing company and was not a start up.
Several groups emerged after the WWF purchased WCW last year and they all attempted to go about starting up a wrestling company in the traditional way described earlier. These groups approached FX, USA, and other cable operators but were unable to secure a time slot.
In May of last year, while on a fishing trip with Bob Ryder and my son Jeff, we had a conversation that pointed us in a totally different direction. The question was asked, "Why not eliminate the traditional method of doing things and go directly to pay-per-view with your product?" The more we thought about it, the more sense the idea seemed to make and that's precisely what we decided to do.
To truly understand our concept, one must view our weekly show as a broadcast product (such as RAW as an example) presented on a pay-per-view format. To see our stars and our storylines, the only way to do it is to watch the weekly pay-per-view program. When looking at our program from a value standpoint, we will be offering 8 hours of pay-per-view for under $40.00 per month. WWE offers 3 hours of pay-per-view per month for $34.95.
The WWE creative team fights a continuous battle of trying to write compelling storylines for their "free" programs in order to keep ratings high, but they still have to hold back enough to make their pay-per-view worth ordering. That's a battle we won't have to fight. Every one of our programs will be written without the need to hold anything back.
We believe our concept offers many advantages as far as quality of life for the talent who will be a part of our program. Some of the advantages include the ability to work as a truly independent contractor, the ability to make a living working as few as 26 dates a year which will add several years to the talent's longevity, and finally and perhaps most importantly the ability to spend time at home with family.
WWE currently offers the only option for a professional wrestler in the United States. In spite of offering 28 hours of programming a month on cable and broadcast television, and in spite of splitting their roster into two separate "brands", WWE can't use all of the great talent that is available today. We hope to give some of that available talent a stage and a chance to follow their dream.
My personal history in the business has given me the opportunity to help launch the career of many of the top stars in the business today. Steve Austin was in my wrestling school in Dallas. During my tenure in the WWF, I brought Kane up for a tryout but Vince McMahon didn't think he was ready so he returned to Memphis to continue his progress until he was called up to be involved with the Undertaker storyline. I point out these two examples to explain that there are many future superstars that will find their chance to reach their dreams through our new venture. I am excited to have a chance to help the next generation of superstars launch their careers.
I have grandchildren now and I'm concerned about what they can go to their room and watch on cable or broadcast television. Our product will be available only on pay-per-view and will come with a PG14 rating. That means it will not be recommended for small children. I well understand the position that WWE finds itself because of the financial pressures of their stockholders and their advertisers. Our concept will not expose us to the same pressures and we will be able to attract the 18-35 male demographic without being concerned with having to market to children. I have read some news sources that predict we can't compete with WWE. In this one area, we have an advantage over WWE.
We are fortunate that so many great companies have gotten on board with our new company. We chose to outsource many duties that a traditional company would do in-house. Our limited finances made this decision necessary, but in so doing, we have assembled quality staff that no other company has available. We have better accounting, better legal, better event booking, better public relations, better pay-per-view consultants, and better production, than we could have put together had we had unlimited financial resources. The people who have joined our project simply could not have been bought.
And finally and probably most importantly, the cable and satellite industry understood our new concept and believed in it. We see it as the natural next genesis in television. I started producing professional wrestling when each city had only 3 television channels. I watched as the UHF stations were developed and each city had 5 or 6 channels. Next came cable television, which was truly groundbreaking because viewers were asked to pay for more channel options. We have seen that viewers will pay an additional fee for premium channels [HBO and Showtime to name a couple], in addition to their monthly cable bill. We have seen that wrestling fans will pay for quality events such as WWE's monthly shows. We think the time has come that fans will pay a minimal weekly fee for a quality, commercial free, weekly wrestling show. No person was more excited when WWE set a new benchmark with 1.3 million in buys for their last edition of Wrestlemania. Remember that fans bought this event in spite of watching the same stars for 28 hours on free, broadcast television, the month prior to the pay-per-view.
We're all very excited about this project and we are pleased with the enthusiastic response we have received from so many of you through the email messages you have sent to us. Your support can help make NWA TNA: Total Nonstop Action a success and we guarantee you that we will work as hard as we possibly can to make sure we present the best program possible on a weekly basis.
Sincerely,
Jerry Jarrett
(i would like to state I have not written this letter above and this is straight from the old website of NWA:TNA, 2nd June 2002)
Thank You
