With the WWE Network quietly unveiling a free tier not too long ago, WWE co-president George Barrios believes it will entice people to subscribe to the premium service.
At the UBS Global TMT Conference this past week, Barrios spoke on what the new free tier can bring to fans who haven't subscribed to the network. During the talk, Barrios said it's all about engagement with those potential new subscribers and making that transition to the premium tier as easy as possible.
“We think it’s a great experience for those fans who are not subscribers, which is great. We want to engage deeper with them, we’re going to give them the best short-form experience on this. Number two, we think if you’re on the fence about becoming a subscriber, living in that environment will make the transition easier for you," Barrios said.
The idea of a free tier version of the WWE Network has been something that WWE explored for a long time. Barrios told The Verge back in September that the tiers for the Network could end up being free, regular and premium. As far as the present is concerned, Barrios said the free tier alone brings a lot of value to fans.
“All of that, we think, creates a ton of value for our fans and creates the ability to do a premium tier,” Barrios said.
Fans can head over to WWE Network (watch.wwe.com) and if they are logged out or haven't signed up, they will notice unlocked videos to view. Currently unlocked videos are mainly Top 10 moments, show highlights, and full matches fans would typically find on WWE's YouTube page that are now integrated into the WWE Network interface.
