WWE (NYSE:WWE) announced financial results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2012.

Revenues totaled $141.6 million as compared to $142.6 million in the prior year quarter. Operating income was $19.6 million as compared to $21.0 million in the prior year quarter. Net income was $11.9 million, or $0.16 per share, as compared to $14.3 million, or $0.19 per share, in the prior year quarter.

There were several items that impacted comparability on a year-over-year basis, including expenses incurred in conjunction with our potential network in the current quarter and film impairments in the prior year quarter.

Excluding the impact of these items, Adjusted Operating income declined 12 percent to $21.3 million from $24.3 million in the prior year quarter. Adjusted Net income was $13.1 million, or $0.17 per share, as compared to $16.5 million, or $0.22 per share, in the prior year quarter.

“In the second quarter, we made important progress on our key strategic initiatives, expanding our content and distribution and enhancing our brand strength,” said Vince McMahon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “The production and licensing of a third hour of Raw and the launch of a new program, ‘WWE Main Event,’ for ION Television, as well as our exploding social media presence which now reaches over 100 million global fans, exemplify our achievement of these goals. In order to cultivate further the unique passion of our global fans, we continued to integrate social media in our program content and entered a strategic investment agreement with Tout, which enables users to capture and share 15-second videos. Integrating our fans' voice in our programming enables us to escalate fan interaction, enhance our programming content, and drive the value of our investment.”

George Barrios, WWE’s Chief Financial Officer, said: “Our results were highlighted by the strong performance of our pay-per-view business, which offset an anticipated decline in video game sales. Key audience measures, including a 17 percent increase in pay-per-view buys and the attraction of 6 million viewers to our 1,000th episode of Raw in July demonstrate our staying power and our continuing ability to build consumer interest. Based on our earnings growth in the first half of the year and the recent positive trends in our pay-per-view business, we are raising our financial forecast for the full year. We expect that our 2012 earnings, measured by either earnings per share, or EBITDA, will be roughly 5-15 percent above our 2011 results on an ‘as reported’ basis.”

Revenues from North America increased 2 percent, primarily driven by the performance of WrestleMania XXVIII in Miami and its pay-per-view business. Revenues from outside North America declined 8 percent due to a decrease in our Live Events and Consumer Products businesses.

Revenues from Live and Televised Entertainment businesses increased 6 percent to $117.1 million driven by $6.4 million in incremental pay-per-view revenue from events, including WrestleMania XXVIII in Miami, headlined by Rock vs. Cena. Compared to the prior year event, WrestleMania XXVIII in Miami contributed $5.3 million in additional ticket, merchandise and pay-per-view revenue -- included in the Live and Televised Entertainment business segment.

Pay-per-view revenues were $40.8 million as compared to $34.4 million in the prior year quarter. Revenue increased 19 percent reflecting a 17 percent increase in buys for the second quarter events. WrestleMania XXVIII in Miami accounted for approximately 60 percent of this revenue growth with a 15 percent increase in buys.

Visit http://corporate.wwe.com/documents/PressRelease-Q22012-FINAL_000.pdf.