Pay Per View Rumours Persist

As BSkyB comes under pressure on several fronts, rumours continued to circulate yesterday on the birth of pay-per-view TV in this country.

It was reported on BBC Radio that the Bruno-Tyson fight in Las Vegas on March 16th would definitely be the first of this kind, with a fee as high as £20 being mooted. Credibility was added to these reports by the confirmation yesterday that another “Sky fighter”, Naseem Hamed, will defend his WBO featherweight title on the same night – but in Glasgow.

This would give Sky the opportunity to package the two fights – plus possibly a film sandwiched between – to create a strong package for pay-per-view.

There are two difficulties. Firstly how this can be introduced without upsetting Sky Sports subscribers who may be paying for the service simply because the monthly subscription would include major sporting occasions such as these; and secondly the agreement with Frank Bruno, widely reported to be attempting to re-negotiate his share of the fight fee if it is indeed a pay-per-view event.

As BSkyB reported increased profits of over £100m yesterday, chief executive Sam Chisholm said that the company intended to introduce digital pay-per-view services by the end of 1996. “This is the future of television, but we must get it right. We must make it irresistable to viewers.”

Frank Bruno’s world title boxing match last September provided BSkyB with what was their largest ever audience, 3.43m viewers. They also claimed that the real figure, taking into account viewers in pubs and bars would be more likely between 10 and 20 million.