Pay-per-view: Difference between revisions

The earliest form of pay-per-view was [[closed-circuit television]], also known as [[theatre television]], where [[professional boxing]] telecasts were broadcast live to a select number of venues, mostly theaters, where viewers paid for tickets to watch the fight live.<ref name="Ezra">{{cite book|last=Ezra|first=Michael|title=The Economic Civil Rights Movement: African Americans and the Struggle for Economic Power|date=2013|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=9781136274756|page=105|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DL41bsCigZcC&pg=PA105}}</ref><ref name="bloodyelbow">{{cite news|title=History of Prizefighting's Biggest Money Fights|url=https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2017/8/24/16170894/history-of-prizefightings-biggest-money-fights-boxing-mma-ufc|work=[[Bloody Elbow]]|agency=[[SB Nation]]|date=August 24, 2017}}</ref> The first fight with a closed-circuit telecast was [[Joe Louis]] vs. [[Jersey Joe Walcott]] in 1948.<ref>{{cite book|title=Television|date=1965|publisher=Frederick A. Kugel Company|page=78|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=it0aAQAAMAAJ&q=Louis+Walcott|quote=Teleprompter's main-spring, Irving B. Kahn (he's chairman of the board and president), had a taste of closed circuit operations as early as 1948. That summer, Kahn, then a vice president of 20th Century-Fox, negotiated what was probably the first inter-city closed circuit telecast in history, a pickup of the Joe Louis-Joe Walcott fight.}}</ref> Closed-circuit telecasts peaked in popularity with [[Muhammad Ali]] in the 1960s and 1970s,<ref name="Ezra"/><ref name="bloodyelbow"/> with "[[The Rumble in the Jungle]]" fight drawing 50{{nbsp}}million buys worldwide in 1974,<ref name="The Morning Herald">{{cite news|title=Zaire's fight promotion opens new gold mines|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/28336306/|work=[[The Morning Herald]]|date=November 18, 1974}}</ref> and the "[[Thrilla in Manila]]" drawing 100{{nbsp}}million buys worldwide in 1975.<ref name="ali-frazier-3"/> Closed-circuit television was gradually replaced by pay-per-view home television in the 1980s and 1990s.<ref name="bloodyelbow"/>

 

The Zenith [[Phonevision]] system became the first home pay-per-view system to be tested in the United States. Developed in 1951, it used [[telephone]] lines to take and receive orders, as well as to descramble a television broadcast signal. The field tests conducted for Phonevision lasted for 90 days and were tested in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]]. The system used [[IBM]] [[punched card|punch card]]s to descramble a signal broadcast during the broadcast station's "[[Dark (broadcasting)|off-time]]". Both systems showed promise, but the [[Federal Communications Commission]] denied them the permits to operate.<ref>FCC Squares Off to Face Subscription TV Dilemma", ''Broadcasting-Telecasting'', November 15, 1954, p31-32</ref>

 

One of the earliest pay-per-view systems on [[cable television]], the Optical Systems-developed [[Channel 100]], first began service in 1972 in [[San Diego]], [[California]] through Mission Cable<ref>{{cite book|last=Mullen|first=Megan Gwynne|title= The Rise of Cable Programming in the United States: revolution or evolution?|url= https://archive.org/details/riseofcableprogr00mega|url-access=registration|quote=alan greenstadt channel 100.|year= 2003|publisher= University of Texas Press|isbn= 0-292-75273-3}}</ref> (which was later acquired by [[Cox Communications]]) and TheaterVisioN, which operated out of [[Sarasota, Florida|Sarasota]], [[Florida]]. These early systems quickly went out of business, as the cable industry adopted [[communications satellite|satellite]] technology and as flat-rate pay television services such as Home Box Office ([[HBO]]) became popular.

While most pay-per-view services were delivered via cable, there were a few over-the-air pay TV stations that offered pay-per-view broadcasts in addition to regularly scheduled broadcasts of movies and other entertainment. These stations, which operated for a few years in Chicago, Los Angeles and some other cities, broadcast "scrambled" signals that required descrambler devices to convert the signal into standard broadcast format. These services were marketed as [[ONTV (pay TV)|ON-TV]].

 

 

[[Professional boxing]] was largely introduced to pay-per-view cable television with the "[[Thrilla in Manila]]" fight between [[Muhammad Ali]] and [[Joe Frazier]] in September 1975. The fight sold 500,000 pay-per-view buys on HBO.<ref name="Smith"/> There was also another major title fight aired on pay-per-view in 1980, when [[Roberto Durán]] defeated [[Sugar Ray Leonard]]. Cable companies offered the match for $10, and about 155,000 customers paid to watch the fight.<ref name="askmen">{{cite web|author=Steve Seepersaud |url=http://ca.askmen.com/sports/business_60/99_sports_business.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310081737/http://ca.askmen.com/sports/business_60/99_sports_business.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2007-03-10 |title=Money in Boxing: The Pay-Per-View Craze |publisher=Ca.askmen.com |access-date=2011-11-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Steve Seepersaud |url=https://www.youtube.com/user/93599Productions |title=Money in Boxing: The Pay-Per-View Craze |publisher=Ca.askmen.com |access-date=2011-11-03}}</ref>

 

A major pay-per-view event{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} occurred on September 16, 1981, when [[Sugar Ray Leonard]] [[Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns|fought]] [[Thomas Hearns|Thomas "Hitman" Hearns]] for the [[World Welterweight Champion]]ship. [[Viacom (2005–present)|Viacom]] Cablevision in [[Nashville]], [[Tennessee]] – the first system to offer the event – saw over 50 percent of its subscriber base purchase the fight.{{Citation needed|date=January 2008}} Leonard visited Nashville to promote the fight, and the event proved such a success that Viacom themed its [[annual report]] for that year around it.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} Viacom marketing director Pat Thompson put together the fight, and subsequently put together additional PPV fights, wrestling matches, and even a televised Broadway play.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}}

 

With the rise of [[direct broadcast satellite]] services in the 1990s, this meant more services exclusively for DBS users appeared. [[DirecTV]] had ''Direct Ticket'' (which, in addition to movies and special events, also included PPV sports packages, most notably [[NFL Sunday Ticket]]), while [[Dish Network]] had ''Dish On Demand''. [[PrimeStar]], on the other hand, utilized pre-existing services like Viewer's Choice and Request TV (as it was owned by a number of major cable providers), though promotional material bannered all PPV services under the name of ''PrimeCinema''.

 

 

1999 differed radically from 2006: 1999 saw four major fight cards: De La Hoya-Trinidad (1.4 million buys), Holyfield-Lewis I (1.2 million), Holyfield-Lewis II (850,000) and De La Hoya-Quartey (570,000). By contrast, only one pay-per-view mega-fight took place in 2006: De La Hoya-Mayorga (925,000 buys). Rahman-Maskaev bombed with under 50,000. The other eight PPV cards that year all fell in the 325,000–450,000 range. Pay-per-view fights in that range almost always generate more money for the promoter and fighters than HBO wants to pay for an HBO World Championship Boxing license-fee.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}

Former HBO Sports President Seth Abraham concurs, saying, "I think, if Lou (DiBella) and I were still at HBO, we'd be in the same pickle as far as the exodus of fights to pay-per-view is concerned."<ref>[http://www.secondsout.com/usa/colhauser.cfm?ccs=208&cs=21089] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070126235411/http://www.secondsout.com/usa/colhauser.cfm?ccs=208&cs=21089|date=January 26, 2007}}</ref>

 

The [[Ultimate Fighting Championship]] (UFC), a [[mixed martial arts]] promotion, was a relative newcomer to the PPV market. However, the promotion experienced a surge in popularity in the mid-2000s, credited initially to the popularity of an associated [[reality show]] on the cable channel [[Paramount Network|Spike]], ''[[The Ultimate Fighter]]''. [[UFC 52]]—the first UFC event since its premiere, broke the promotion's record with almost 300,000 buys (in comparison to 250,000 for [[UFC 5]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mmaweekly.com/ufc-pay-per-view-buys-explode-in-2006|title=– UFC PAY-PER-VIEW BUYS EXPLODE IN 2006|date=2006-07-13|website=MMAWeekly.com|access-date=2019-03-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/ufc-52-chuck-strikes-back-091600834--mma.html|title=UFC 52: Chuck strikes back|website=Yahoo! Sports|date=24 May 2009 |access-date=2019-03-18}}</ref> PPV numbers escalated further in 2006, with its events taking in a gross revenue of $222 million.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mmamania.com/2007/02/24/report-ufc-grosses-222-million-in-2006-ppv-buys|title=Report: UFC grosses $222 million in 2006 PPV buys|date=2007-02-24|website=MMAmania.com|access-date=2019-03-18}}</ref> In October 2016, it was reported that 42% of the UFC's "content revenue" in 2015 came from pay-per-view buys, followed by U.S. and international media rights.

 

In March 2019, as part of a larger contract with [[ESPN]] for media rights in the United States, it was announced that future UFC pay-per-views will [[Tying (commerce)|only be sold to subscribers]] of the network's streaming service [[ESPN+]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com:443/en/Daily/Closing%20Bell/2019/03/18/ESPN%20UFC.aspx|title=ESPN Extends With UFC; ESPN+ Becomes Exclusive PPV Provider|website=Sports Business Daily|access-date=2019-03-18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.fiercevideo.com/video/espn-pay-per-view-arrives-hulu-time-for-ufc-262|title=ESPN+ pay-per-view arrives on Hulu in time for UFC 262|author=Christian Balderas|website=fiercevideo.com|date=2021-05-10|access-date=2021-11-07}}</ref>

 

[[Professional wrestling]] has a long history of running pay-per-view events. [[WWE]] (then WWF) launched its first pay-per-view event in 1985 with its annual flagship event [[WrestleMania]] and has run numerous others throughout the years. Although it still offers its events via traditional PPV outlets, they have also been included at no additional charge as part of a larger, subscription-based streaming service known as [[WWE Network]]. The service also includes original programming (such as documentary-style series and other wrestling programs) and an on-demand archive of events and television episodes from WWE's library. Following [[WrestleMania 34]], the service had 2.12 million subscribers.<ref>{{cite news |last=Berkman |first=Seth|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/31/business/media/the-body-slam-is-buffering.html |title=WWE Network Is Loud Introduction to the Video Streaming Ring |work=The New York Times |date=March 30, 2014 |access-date=August 14, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/business/article/WrestleMania-34-sets-Superdome-record-12818488.php|title=WrestleMania 34 sets Superdome, network records|date=2018-04-09|work=Stamford Advocate|access-date=2018-11-17}}</ref>

 

Other major organizations such as [[World Championship Wrestling]], [[Extreme Championship Wrestling]], [[TNA Wrestling|TNA]], [[Ring of Honor]], and [[All Elite Wrestling]] have also run pay-per-view events.

 

In 1999, [[Woodstock '99|Woodstock 1999]] was broadcast via PPV from [[Rome, New York]] for people who wanted to attend but could not. The cameras were a cause of the downfall of the event.

 

 

===United Kingdom and Ireland===

 

 

===Canada===

|

HBO<br>Sky Box Office

| $134,000,000<ref name="hatton"/>

| {{US$|{{Inflation|US|134000000|2007|r=-7}}|long=no}}

HBO

| {{nts|1,060,000}}<ref name="Mosley fight does 1.4 million"/>

| {{US$|{{Inflation|US|58810000|2009|r=-6}}|long=no}}

|-

HBO

| {{nts|1,250,000}}<ref name="pac-cotto"/>

| {{US$|{{Inflation|US|78850000|2009|r=-6}}|long=no}}

|-

HBO

| {{nts|1,150,000}}<ref name="Margarito"/>

| {{US$|{{Inflation|US|69410000|2010|r=-7}}|long=no}}

|-

Showtime

| {{nts|1,340,000}}<ref name="pac-mosley"/>

| {{US$|{{Inflation|US|83900000|2011|r=-6}}|long=no}}

|-

HBO

| {{nts|1,250,000}}<ref name="may-ortiz"/>

| {{US$|{{Inflation|US|87440000|2011|r=-6}}|long=no}}

|-

|-

| {{dts|1952|September|23}}

| {{nts|40,000}}<ref>{{cite news|title=Joe Walcott Quits; 'Last King of Line'|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/40476207/|work=[[The New York Age]]|date=September 27, 1952}}</ref>

| ${{formatnum:{{#expr:40000*4.8}}|}}<ref>{{cite news|title=RAIN THREATENS HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/10624436/|work=[[Tucson Daily Citizen]]|date=September 23, 1952}}</ref>

|- style="background:#ffc;"

| {{dts|1955|September|21}}

| {{nts|300,000}}<ref>{{cite news |title=The Troy Record |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/58762372/ |date=April 19, 1956 }}</ref>

| $1,125,000<ref>{{cite news |title=Rocky KO's Moore |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/109240434/ |work=[[The Register-Guard|The Eugene Guard]] |date=September 22, 1955 }}</ref>

|- style="background:#ffc;"

| {{dts|1964|February|25}}

| {{nts|700,000}}<ref name="Ezra82">{{cite book|last=Ezra|first=Michael|title=Muhammad Ali: The Making of an Icon|date=2009|publisher=[[Temple University Press]]|isbn=9781592136612|page=82|chapter=Muhammad Ali's Main Bout: African American Economic Power and the World Heavyweight Title|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gh3rtDyeSAIC&pg=PA82}}</ref>

| $5,000,000<ref name="Ezra82"/>

| [[Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao]]

| {{nts|{{formatnum:{{#expr:25900000/150 round -3}}|}}}}<ref name="espn"/>

| ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|25900000|2015|r=-4}}|}}

|}

|- style="background:#ffc;"

|{{dts|1964|February|25}}

|Ali wins by [[Corner retirement|RTD]] in round 6

|[[WUVN|WHCT]]<ref name="broadcasting">{{cite journal|title=Can the fine arts find a home on television?|journal=[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]|date=1972|volume=83|page=38|url=http://www.projectstraightink.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/1972-12-11-BC-watermark.pdf#page=38|publisher=Broadcasting Publications Incorporated|quote=Noting that many in the arts community have rested their hopes on pay cable, Mr. Jencks recalled that during a pay-TV experiment over WHCT(TV) Hartford, Conn., 96% of all viewing time was devoted to motion pictures and sports events. A single boxing match between Sonny Liston and Muhammad Ali, Mr. Jencks said, attracted nearly four times as many subscribers as the cumulative total of all 50 "educational features" offered by WHCT over a two-year period.|access-date=2018-05-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180511191906/http://www.projectstraightink.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/1972-12-11-BC-watermark.pdf#page=38|archive-date=2018-05-11|url-status=dead}}</ref>

|Barrera wins by UD (116–111, 115–112, 115–112)

|HBO

|-

|{{dts|2001|Jun|08}}

|Maskaev wins by TKO in round 12

|HBO

|-

|{{dts|2006|Nov|4}}

|Pacquiao wins by KO in round 2

|HBO

|-

|{{dts|2009|Sep|19}}

|Pacquiao wins by TKO in round 12

|HBO

|-

|{{dts|2010|Mar|13}}

|Pacquiao wins by UD (119–109, 119–109, 120–108)

|HBO

|-

|{{Dts|2010|Apr|3}}

|Pacquiao wins by UD (120–108, 118–110, 119–109)

|HBO

|-

|{{dts|2011|May|7}}

|Pacquiao wins by UD (119–108, 120–108, 120–107)

|Showtime

|-

|{{dts|2011|Sep|17}}

|Mayweather Jr. wins by UD (117–111, 117–111, 118–110)

|HBO

|-

|{{dts|2012|Jun|9}}

|Bradley wins by SD (115–113, 115–113, 115–113)

|HBO

|-

|{{dts|2012|Sep|15}}

|Martínez wins by UD (118–109, 118–109, 117–110)

|HBO

|-

|{{dts|2012|Dec|8}}

|Márquez wins by KO in round 6

|HBO

|title= Marquez-Pacquiao another big draw |work= ESPN.com |date= 2012-12-15 |access-date= 2012-12-15}}</ref>

|-

|Álvarez wins by TKO in Round 10

|Showtime

|title= Canelo Alvarez scores on PPV |work= ESPN.com |date=2014-03-14 |access-date=2014-06-13}}</ref>

|-

|Pacquiao wins by UD (116–112, 116–112, 118–110)

|HBO

|-

|{{dts|2014|May|3}}

|Álvarez wins by SD (115–113, 117–111, 113–115)

|Showtime

|title= Golovkin-Rubio up next? |work= ESPN.com |date=2014-08-15 |access-date=2014-08-29}}</ref>

|-

|Mayweather Jr. wins by UD (120–108, 118–110, 117–111)

|Showtime

|-

|{{dts|2015|Oct|17}}

|Álvarez wins by UD (117–111, 119–109, 118–110)

|HBO

|-

|{{dts|2016|Apr|9}}

|Pacquiao wins by UD (116–110, 116–110, 116–110)

|HBO

|-

|{{dts|2016|May|7}}

|Crawford wins by UD (118–107, 118–107, 117–108)

|HBO

|-

|{{dts|2016|Sep|17}}

|Álvarez wins by TKO in round 9

|HBO

|Álvarez wins by UD (120–108, 120–108, 120–108)

|HBO

|-

|{{dts|2017|Jun|17}}

|Álvarez wins by MD (115–113, 114–114, 115–113)

|HBO

|-

|{{dts|2018|Dec|1}}

|-

|{{dts|2019|Mar|16}}

|Spence Jr. wins by UD (120–107, 120–108, 120–108)

|[[Fox Sports|Fox]]

|-

|{{dts|2020|Dec|5}}

|Spence wins by UD (117–111, 116–112, 116–112)

|Fox

|-

| {{dts|2010|April|3|format=dmy}}

| Sky Box Office

| 253,000

|-

| {{dts|2010|November|13|format=dmy}}

| Sky Box Office

| 304,000

| Sky Box Office

| 942,000

|-

| {{dts|2015|May|30|format=dmy}}

| Sky Box Office

| 139,000

|-

| {{dts|2017|May|27|format=dmy}}

| Sky Box Office

| 405,000

|-

| {{dts|2019|August|31|format=dmy}}

| Sky Box Office

| 205,000

 

[[Category:Television terminology]]

[[Category:Pay-per-view television]]