5. Pay per view

Most channels tend to be 'free-to-view' once you have the right hardware to view them (and the subscription contract). However another option that broadcasters use is Pay-per-View. This is where the viewer has to pay to see a specific program.

This may be a film or often a highly popular one-off event such as a boxing match or a certain football game.

The impact of pay per view on viewers, broadcasters and TV companies:

Viewer
Viewer can choose to pay to view a specific program.
They can view it live or at a later time by recording it
Need to keep track of what PPV items are being purchased over the month if they want to avoid a nasty surprise when the bill is due
May be more cost-effective to pay for the odd movie rather than rent a dedicated film channel that you only use now and then.

 

Broadcaster
The payment systems for PPV needs to be in place and to be able to cope with high demand efficiently.
Strong encryption needs to be used to avoid unpaid viewers seeing the program.
PPV license conditions to be very clear for public businesses such as a pub that is showing a football match to attract more customers
Advertisers want as large an audience as possible. But PPV limits the size of audience the broadcaster can offer. So advertising revenues may be reduced.
If all the best events are always made PPV then they may lose the revenue from their subscription channels as viewers don't find the dedicated channel attractive any more.

 

Television company
An exclusive PPV deal with a broadcaster will limit their opportunity to sell it to other broadcasters at the same time
Pay per view tends to limit the audience compared to free to view or even subscription. They need to think about the effect this may have on the long term popularity of a sport if PPV is used all the time.

 

challenge see if you can find out one extra fact on this topic that we haven't already told you

Click on this link: Pay per view television