WWE Conference Call coverage: Vince McMahon addresses the first quarter financial numbers

The following is a report on the WWE conference call held on May 5, 2011 regarding the first quarter earnings report.

-WWE vice president of investor relations Michael Weitz read through the legalities and turned the call over to Vince McMahon.

-Vince spoke about "somewhat disappointing" first quarter numbers. He said pay-per-view revenue "was essentially flat." He stressed that it does not reflect WrestleMania 27, Raw and Smackdown ratings being up, and the success of WWE Tough Enough.

-Vince said the name change is not a departure from what they do or their core product. He boasted about their live event production and television production, and said they could use that elsewhere and broaden their potential revenue product. "That's really what the new WWE is in a nutshell," Vince said.

-WWE CFO George Barrios read through the presentation that is available at the corporate website.

-Barrios noted that the NXT rights fees changed due to the move to the online platform. He also noted that WWE Superstars moved from WGN America to the same online platform.

-Barrios also stressed that the sales of the WWE All Stars video game will be included in the second quarter financial report.

-Looking ahead, Barrios said the company is cautious about the short term future, yet he was optimistic about the long term future. He cited the loss of NXT and WWE Superstars programming fees as an issue. Barrios cited new distribution outlets such as Netflix, iPad, etc. puts them in an ideal position as a programmer.

-They opened the lines for caller questions. The first caller asked about how MMA affects WWE. Vince said they don't view UFC as direct competition. He said they can have an impact if they run the same weekend as WWE. He claims its not that MMA is taking their viewers, it's that the cable advertising for the events is split.

-Vince addressed the WWE Network and said it will likely be "a hybrid of what is now known as a network" in response to a caller asking whether it will be a traditional network or something different. Barrios agreed with Vince's "hybrid" assessment. He noted that they own 100 percent of their library and look forward to making use of it. Vince said they have content they plan to roll out and said finding a new home for them will be easy. Barrios said there's a "land grab for content going on right now."

-A caller asked about the storylines and how they are evolving. Vince said he thinks they are getting traction, and The Rock returning gives them more awareness. He said Rock coming back brings in older fans and exposes them to The Miz and Alberto Del Rio. Vince stressed that Miz was in a preliminary match at WrestleMania 26 and main evented WrestleMania 27. He said Del Rio was in a WrestleMania main event and he wasn't even around last year. Vince said he thinks the new talent initiative is going very well.

-A caller asked if WWE has added more promotional dollars to pay-per-view. Barrios said they have not. He said it depends on the story line and where they can get "the most juice for the squeeze." There were no additional callers with questions so they ended the conference call.

Chris Shore and I will be discussing the WWE conference call, the earnings report, the WWE Smackdown spoiler news, the TNA Impact name change, the latest former WWE star to pop up in TNA, and more in today's Dot Net Weekly audio show. Join us on the ad-free version of the website by signing up now via the Dot Net Members' Signup Page.