Pay-per-view

[edit] Americola's celebrity biographies are provided by AmericolaWiki, a celebrity wiki. You can help contribute to Americola and edit this article.

Pay-per-view (often abbreviated PPV) is the system in which television viewers can purchase events to be seen on TV and pay for the private telecast of that event to their homes later. The event is shown at the same time to everyone ordering it, as opposed to video on demand systems, which allow viewers to see the event at any time. Events can be purchased using an on-screen guide, an automated telephone system, or through a live customer service representative. Events include feature films, sporting events, and pornographic movies.

Contents 1 History (Americas) 2 History (Europe) 3 History (Australia, NZ & Pacific Islands) 4 Availability 5 See also 6 External links

History (Americas)

Pay-per-view has been around since the 1970s, when the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers began using the system after winning the championship in the 1977 season. During that time, it was operated on a few pay-TV services such as Z Channel, SelecTV, and ON-TV in select markets throughout the 1980s.

The first major Pay-Per View event occurred on September 16, 1981, when Sugar Ray Leonard fought Thomas "Hitman" Hearns for the Welterweight Championship. Viacom Cablevision in Nashville, Tennessee, was the first system to offer the event and sold over fifty (50%) of its subscribers for the fight. Leonard visited Nashville to promote the fight. The event was such a huge success that Viacom's Annual Report that year was themed around the fight. Viacom's Marketing Director was Pat Thompson who put together the fight and subsequently put together additional PPV fights, wrestling matches, and even a Broadway play.

After leaving Viacom, Thompson became head of Sports View and produced the first Pay-Per-View Football game on October 16, 1983, Tennessee versus Alabama from Birmingham, Alabama. Sports View was instrumental in building Pay-Per-View Networks and was the early pioneer in developing TigerVision for LSU, TideVision for Alabama, and UT Vol Seat for Tennessee. Sports View also produced the Ohio State-Michigan Football game on PPV in November of 1983.

In 1985, the first U.S. cable channels devoted to Pay-Per-View Viewers Choice (now inDemand), Cable Video Store, and Request TV began operation within days of each other. Viewers Choice was available to both home satellite dish and cable customers, while Request was available to cable viewers but would not be available to dish owners until the 1990s.

However, the term "pay-per-view" wasn't widely used until the 1990s, when companies like iN DEMAND, HBO, and Showtime started using the system to show movies and some of their productions. In Demand would show movies, concerts, and other events, with prices ranging from $3.99 to $49.99, while HBO and Showtime, with their legs TVKO and SET Pay Per View, would offer championship boxing, with prices ranging from $14.99 to $54.99.

ESPN has shown college football and basketball games on pay-per-view. The boxing undercard Latin Fury, shown on June 28 2003, became ESPN's first boxing pay-per-view card and also the first pay-per-view boxing card held in Puerto Rico. Pay-per-view is also a very important revenue stream for professional wrestling companies like WWE, which shows sixteen pay-per-view events a year, and TNA, which initially offered weekly pay-per-view in lieu of a national cable television show but now offers monthly pay-per-views like WWE. To this day, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) holds the rank for most PPV's sold per year.

History (Europe)

Pay per view was first adopted in the UK with the use of selective access satellite television and cable systems.

History (Australia, NZ & Pacific Islands)

Pay per view was introduced by Foxtel direct to home television in Australia and NZ in the early 2000s and by Sky Pacific in Fiji and other Pacific Island Nations in 2006.

Availability

In the U.S., two direct-to-home (DTH) digital broadcast satellite (DBS) providers DirecTV and Dish Network allow customers to order with the remote control. The unit later calls out using an 800 number and connects via modem, adding the cost of the movie to the account. A similar system is used by Foxtel and Optus in Australia. Digital cable subscribers also have this capability, using the bidirectional capabilities of digital cable technology instead of a telephone line. Similar systems are in use by Sky Digital in the United Kingdom.

In Canada, Viewers Choice offers pay-per-preview services through various Canadian satellite TV and digital cable television providers, including Rogers Digital Cable, StarChoice, and MTS. Prices range from $4.99 CAD for movies, up to $20 CAD or more for special events. (Ex. WWE and ECW Pay-Per-Views, which usually cost $39.95 for normal 3-hour PPV's, and $49.95 for the 4-hour WrestleMania special.) Bell ExpressVu delivers its own pay-per-view service, Vu!, to its satellite subscribers. Prices range from $4.99 CAD up to $20 or more for special events. It also runs Venus, an adult pay-per-view service, to its satellite subscribers for $9.99 per movie.

Pay-per-view has also been introduced in Europe and many other areas of the world. In the UK, Sky's PremPlus and Sky Box Office services have proved popular with viewers.

See also

• Conditional access

Wikipedia information about Pay-per-view This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Pay-per-view". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.