World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Stops Offering Pay-Per-View Programming on DirecTV

STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 15, 2001--World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWF - news) today announced that it would no longer offer pay-per-view (PPV) programming on DirecTV, starting with the ``No Mercy'' pay-per-view event this Sunday, October 21, 2001.

WWFE and DirecTV have been in negotiations over a new contract, but have not been able to come to terms on the fundamental issue of what the revenue split should be. The prior contract expired in January 2001, and WWFE granted several extensions during that time while the parties continued to negotiate.

``As the leading content and revenue provider in the pay-per-view industry, WWFE is simply asking for a fair split in the revenues,'' said Stuart Snyder, President and COO of WWFE.

WWFE is encouraging its fans who are DirecTV subscribers to seek alternative ways to view ``No Mercy'' this Sunday, as well as future WWFE PPV programs.

Credit: Yahoo! News. Thanks to Mike Informer for his help!