ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro appeared on The Ringer’s Press Box podcast, where he discussed various topics, including the company’s new PLE deal with WWE and what fans can expect from it.
Pitaro said, “Without commenting on the financials of the deal, one of the things that we are focused on from a direct-to-consumer perspective is churn, and minimizing churn.”
He continued, “When we first started to look at these premium-level events, we immediately thought of the calendar and the fact that these events could help us plug in some holes and gaps we might have in our schedule, and thereby minimize churn.”
On working with WWE on PLE scheduling:
“The executives at WWE have been very clear with us that they are willing to work with us in terms of scheduling. They are producing these events, but I would expect that if I call Nick Khan and say, ‘Hey, can you work with me, we have a particular gap here in our schedule,’ I expect he will. I would emphasize the word premium. The fact that we’re getting WrestleMania for our direct-to-consumer platform is incredibly exciting for us.”
You can check out the complete podcast below.
(H/T to Fightful for transcribing the above quotes)
