In November 2022 it was announced that Premier Streaming Network would be entering the streaming game.
Premier Streaming Network is headed by Paul Owen (formerly of WWE Network) and Josh Shernoff (formerly of FITE TV) and set to feature combat sports, pro wrestling and entertainment live events and libraries, traditional sporting events, documentaries and original content series.
Appearing on the Undisputed Podcast with Bobby Fish, Shernoff explained his goals for the network.
"A couple of key boxes we wanted to check is the user experience. We've all had that show where, they win a bunch of awards, and you're like, "I should probably check this out,' and you look up where to watch, and it ends up on a streaming network where you're like, 'Why couldn't it have been on this one instead? It's such a better user experience.' We want to be the platform where, if you're coming for pro wrestling, MMA, boxing, or eventually more than that. We're talking to a number of fringe sports and more mainstream sports, and even outside of sports, just original content. We're open to anything. The user experience is so important because we want to make sure that people go, 'this pay-per-view is coming up, where am I watching it? Oh, that network. I wish it were on Premier.' That's what we want to get to. I'll be honest, because I've seen the platform, I think it will take maybe a day of people using it. I think somebody will use it once and go, 'I wish everything was here.' It's just set up in that way. We are people who stream things all the time, so we have those components. We can look at our platform and go, 'this happens, oh, I hate that.' We had so many times when we were building it where we went, 'this annoys the hell out of me, we can't have that, we have to change that.' It's something that's going to happen over the first and second year, and we're going to listen to feedback and keep an ear and eye open for feedback from users who will say, 'I love this, but I wish you could do this.' Maybe the technology will be there, maybe it won't be, but we're going to continue to grow," he said.
Shernoff continued by saying, "The key thing is the user experience. We can have the greatest shows ever, but if the user experience sucks...WWE Network, I loved WWE Network before Peacock. I'm not a fan of WWE Network on Peacock. We don't want to be that. WWE Network on Peacock has everything as a wrestling fan you want to watch, but it's pulling teeth to find it."
Thus far, PSN has announced streaming agreements with ECWA, CZW, WrestlePro, The Undisputed Podcast, and more.
"We understood we weren't going to be able to launch with the biggest promotions, so it's important to us to try and find the history of wrestling. We look at it like we're curating a museum," he said.
Shernoff noted that when fans search for a wrestler, every match involving that wrestler will show up. He also said PSN will have collections and a hidden gems section.
Fans can learn more about Premier Streaming Network by clicking here. The service is set to launch on January 15.
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