PPV Gains Strength

At Showtime Event Televisionís (SET) annual PPV industry overview held recently in New York City, industry figures on PPV movie revenues were announced which showed revenue increased for both cable and direct broadcast satellite (DBS) systems in 1998. Cable increased 22 percent, for a total of $344 million in revenue and DBS increased 36 percent, for a total of $410 million in revenue. Mark Greenberg, SET Executive Vice President attributed the substantial revenue increase to capacity expansion, the number of homes and the number of channels being piped into those homes. The expansion is being fueled by the arrival of digital cable. Digital cable subscribers represented about 1 million cable subscribers in 1998 and that number is projected to increase to over 3 million in 1999. DBS this year is projected to be in 10 million homes, a 23 percent increase over 1998. ""We see DBS subscribers as early adopters, some of them migrating from cable,"" Greenberg said. ""These customers want more consumption, and have an insatiable appetite. They want 40 to 50 PPV channels and multiple premium services.""Greenberg noted that households able to access PPV is expected to reach nearly 42 million homes in 1999. Revenue per household from cable PPV movies increased 17 percent in 1998 over 1997, from around $9 to $11.60.