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Entertainment website TheWrap.com reported an "exclusive story" Thursday evening that WWE was seeking to sell their video library to Warner Bros.
As one might imagine, if this was the case, it would be one of the biggest stories not just of the year, but of all time as WWE has cultivated a massive library featuring not only all of their own self-produced content but WCW, ECW, World Class, Mid-South, etc. and have been monetizing it via DVDs, The WWE Network, international TV deals, etc. on a regular basis.
WWE sources, when contacted this evening, all said that there was nothing to the story of them looking to sell the video library.
However, it should be noted that TheWrap.com story claimed that Cinedigm currently has the WWE library. That, of course, would be incorrect as WWE owns their own content, something that WWE CFO George Barrios had proudly stated during every financial call with stockholders in recent years while talking up the WWE Network - "we own 100% of all of our content" - which puts WWE in a great position when it comes to coming up with ways to monetize that material.
Cinedigm, however, are the current distributors of WWE's home video (DVD) releases. It is entirely within the realm of possibility that WWE could be interested in partnering with Warner Bros. Home Video to release and distribute their titles. The two sides worked together on the release and distribution of the animated "Scooby Doo and the Wrestlemania Mystery" DVD that WWE Studios co-produced with Warner Bros. earlier this year and will be partnering on a similar WWE crossover with The Flintstones as well.
The idea of the two sides looking to do more business together shouldn't be discounted - but that would be an entirely different situation from Warner "acquiring" the entire WWE library.
So, it very well may be that the original report was about WWE's DVD distribution, not the sale of the actual WWE library - and that someone (who possibly doesn't understand the nuances of pro wrestling) lost the thread of the story along the way, causing it to evolve into something far more unlikely...or it may be that the original story was completely off base.
We shall see, but the idea of WWE selling their entire library off? Doubtful, in my opinion.
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