Satellite television company DirecTV is threatening to eliminate WWE pay-per-views now that WWE is making them available to WWE Network subscribers as part of a $9.99 per month (with a six month commitment) membership fee. DirecTV issued the following press release to the L.A. Times. "Clearly we need to quickly re-evaluate the economics and viability of their business with us, as it now appears the WWE feels they do not need their PPV distributors, has been steadily declining, and this new low-cost competitive offering will only accelerate this trend."

Meanwhile, Vince McMahon doesn't seem to be taking the threat seriously. "I think it’d be foolish for them not to want to carry the pay-per-view anymore," McMahon said. "It’s found money for them." Read the full story at Latimes.com. [Thanks to Dot Net Member HiSpot and Dot Net reader Chris]

Powell's POV: I have DirecTV and couldn't care less if they decline to offer WWE pay-per-views in the future. Even if the big babies could pull the plug immediately, there are enough options available even before the WWE Network launches that I could conceivably keep my service and continue to order WWE pay-per-views via PS3 or PS4 or elsewhere. Of course, the question WWE has to ask is whether the majority of their fan base is equipped to order in non-traditional manners so that the company wouldn't lose revenue.

I agree with Vince on this one. DirecTV can whine and complain all they want, but they would be missing out on the easy money that WWE pay-per-views provide. The line about WWE pay-per-views "steadily declining" is clearly a shot that shows the satellite giant is very upset about the network. Of course, it's also a reason that WWE opted to change its pay-per-view model. I assume this is DirecTV's way of saying they want a bigger cut of the pay-per-view revenue. Keep in mind that they also had a chance to get in business with variations of a WWE Network, and they even sent out a poll to their subscribers to gauge interest in a potential network at one point.

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