Editing Pay-per-view (section)

==History==
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, with arenas, stadiums, [[convention center]]s, and schools being less common venues), 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"/>

=== Experimental PPV systems in the 1950s and 1960s ===
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>

[[Telemeter]], an experimental coin-operated pay-per-view service, had a trial run in Los Angeles in 1952 and [[Palm Springs, California]] from 1953 to 1954, featuring first-run movies and live sporting events, until a lawsuit from a local drive-in and other issues forced it to shut down. The service then set up an experimental run in the Toronto suburb of [[Etobicoke]], Canada in 1959, free from American [[antitrust]] laws and outside of the [[FCC]]'s juridiction. Programming initially consisted essentially of first-run movies and fictional series. In 1961, Telemeter signed deals with the [[Toronto Argonauts]] [[Canadian football|football]] team and the [[Toronto Maple Leafs]] to broadcast away games; wrestling was also featured. Some original programming, such as a 1962 [[Bob Newhart]] [[stand-up comedy]] special, thought to be the first filmed pay-per-view [[television special]]<ref>{{cite news |last1=Zinoman |first1=Jason |title=Bob Newhart Holds Up. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/18/arts/television/bob-newhart-standup-comedy.html |access-date=July 19, 2024 |work=New York Times |date=July 18, 2024}}</ref> were produced at Telemeter's [[Bloor Street]] studio and several Broadway shows and an opera performance were also broadcast. At its peak, 5,800 households were subscribed but the experiment was not a success and shut down operations on April 30, 1965 with only 2,500 subscribers.<ref>{{Cite book |last1 = Woodrow |first1 = R. Brian |last2 = Woodside |first2 = Kenneth Bernard |title = The Introduction of Pay TV in Canada: issues and implications |publisher = IRPP |year = 1982 |page = 31 |isbn = 9780920380673}}</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]]. 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 during 1960s{{ndash}}1970s ===
The first home pay-per-view [[cable television]] broadcast was the [[Floyd Patterson]] vs. [[Ingemar Johansson]] rematch in 1960, when 25,000 [[TelePrompTer Corporation|TelePrompTer]] subscribers mailed $2 to watch Patterson regain the heavyweight title.<ref name="brooks">{{cite book|last=Brooks|first=Ken|title=Ingemar Johansson: Swedish Heavyweight Boxing Champion|date=2016|publisher=[[McFarland & Company|McFarland]]|isbn=9781476620237|page=150|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uGQuCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA150}}</ref> The third Patterson{{ndash}}Johansson match in 1961 was later viewed by 100,000 paid cable subscribers.<ref name="lake">{{cite news|title=Floyd Favored 18-5 to Send Swede Home with Lumpy Head|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/21287459/|work=[[Daily Inter Lake]]|date=March 13, 1961|page=5}}</ref> Muhammad Ali had several fights on early pay-per-view home television, including [[Cassius Clay vs. Doug Jones]] in 1963,<ref name="Traverse City Record-Eagle">{{cite news|title=Clay-Jones Fight First Garden Sellout in 13 Yrs|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/54847931/|work=[[Traverse City Record-Eagle]]|date=March 13, 1963}}</ref> and [[Sonny Liston vs. Cassius Clay]]<ref name="broadcasting"/> which drew 250,000 buys on cable television in 1964.<ref name="Ezra83"/>

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>

=== 1980s{{ndash}}2000s ===
WWE chairman and chief executive officer [[Vince McMahon]] is considered by many as one of the icons of pay-per-view promotion. McMahon owns the [[domain name]] payperview.com, which redirects to the [[WWE Network]] website.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://whois.domaintools.com/payperview.com |title=PayPerView.com – WWE Online Pay-Per-View |publisher=Whois.domaintools.com |access-date=2011-11-03}}</ref>

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''.

=== HBO PPV (professional boxing) ===
In 2006, HBO generated 3.7 million pay-per-view buys with $177 million in gross sales. The only year with more buys previously, 1999, had a total of 4 million. The former record fell in 2007 when HBO sold 4.8 million PPV buys with $255 million in sales.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=3158134 |title=Mayweather-Hatton pay-per-view a smashing success |publisher=[[ESPN]] |date=2007-12-17 |access-date=2011-11-03}}</ref> BY 2014, HBO had generated 59.3 million buys and $3.1 billion in revenue since its 1991 debut with Evander Holyfield-George Foreman.<ref>{{cite web|author=Dan Rafael|url=https://www.espn.com/blog/dan-rafael/post/_/id/12732/mayweather-pacquiao-on-ppv-a-perfect-storm|title=Mayweather-Pacquiao on PPV 'a perfect storm'|publisher=ESPN|date=April 29, 2015}}</ref>

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.

In May 2007, the junior middleweight boxing match between [[Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr.]] on HBO PPV became the biggest-selling non-heavyweight title fight, with a little more than 2.5 million buyers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibtimes.com/sports-tv-ratings-how-many-people-watched-mayweather-vs-pacquiao-kentucky-derby-nfl-1907833|title=Sports TV Ratings: How Many People Watched Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, The Kentucky Derby And NFL Draft?|website=[[International Business Times]]|date=2015-05-04|access-date=2016-06-30}}</ref> The fight itself generated roughly {{US$|139 million|long=no}} in domestic PPV revenue, making it the most lucrative prizefight of that era. The record stood until 2015 before it was broken by [[Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao]] in a fight dubbed as the "Fight of the Century" on May 2, 2015, which generated 4.6 million ppv buys and a revenue of over $400 million.<ref name="boxingscene2015">{{cite web|url=http://www.boxingscene.com/hbos-taffet-still-stunned-by-46m-buys-pac--97976|title=HBO's Taffet Still Stunned By 4.6M Buys For May-Pac|publisher=BoxingScene|date=November 10, 2015|access-date=May 2, 2016}}</ref>

The leading PPV attraction, [[Floyd Mayweather Jr.]] has generated approximately 24 million buys and $1.6 billion in revenue. [[Manny Pacquiao]], ranked second, has generated approximately 20.1 million buys and $1.2 billion in revenue.<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Kurt Badenhausen|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2016/04/09/manny-pacquiao-set-to-retire-with-500-million-in-career-earnings/#5f4ff5866f25|title=Manny Pacquiao Set To Retire After Bradley Fight With $500 Million In Career Earnings|magazine=Forbes|date=April 9, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://boxingjunkie.usatoday.com/2016/11/15/bob-arum-manny-pacquiao-jessie-vargas-fight-300k-ppv-buys/|title=USA TODAY: Latest World and US News - USATODAY.com|website=USA TODAY|access-date=1 November 2018|archive-date=23 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223065126/http://boxingjunkie.usatoday.com/2016/11/15/bob-arum-manny-pacquiao-jessie-vargas-fight-300k-ppv-buys/|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Oscar De La Hoya]], has "sold" approximately 14 million [[wikt:unit|unit]]s in total, giving $700 million in domestic television receipts and stands third. In fourth place in buys, [[Evander Holyfield]] has achieved 12.6 million units ($550 million); and at fifth, [[Mike Tyson]] has reached 12.4 million units ($545 million).<ref>[https://sports.yahoo.com/news/where-manny-pacquiao-ranks-among-the-biggest-ppv-boxing-draws-of-all-time-100354711-boxing.html Where Manny Pacquiao ranks among the biggest PPV boxing draws of all-time]. Yahoo! Sports (April 8, 2014). Retrieved on 2016-06-25.</ref>

Ross Greenburg, then president of HBO Sports, called the expansion of pay-per-view "the biggest economic issue in boxing", stating "I can't tell you that pay-per-view helps the sport because it doesn't. It hurts the sport because it narrows our audience, but it's a fact of life. Every time we try to make an HBO World Championship Boxing fight, we're up against mythical pay-per-view numbers. HBO doesn't make a lot of money from pay-per-view. There's usually a cap on what we can make. But the promoters and fighters insist on pay-per-view because that's where their greatest profits lie."<ref name="The Boxing Scene">[https://books.google.com/books?id=VfvqxXaJcKEC&dq=%22put+fighters+like+Manny+Pacquiao+on+HBO+World%22&pg=PA133 The Boxing Scene] By Thomas Hauser</ref>

"It's a big problem," Greenburg continues. "It's getting harder and harder to put fighters like [[Manny Pacquiao]] on [[HBO]] World Championship Boxing. If [[Floyd Mayweather]] beats Oscar, he might never fight on HBO World Championship Boxing again. But if HBO stopped doing pay-per-view, the promoters would simply do it on their own [like Bob Arum did with Cotto-Malignaggi in June 2006] or find someone else who will do it for them."<ref name="The Boxing Scene"/>

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>

=== Ultimate Fighting Championship ===
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 2018, [[UFC 229]] would pull an all-time record for the promotion, with estimates indicating that the event attracted nearly 2.4 million buys, breaking the 1.65 million buy record set by [[UFC 202]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mmafighting.com/2018/10/11/17962158/ufc-229-khabib-vs-mcgregor-destroys-previous-mma-record-for-pay-per-views|title=UFC 229: Khabib vs. McGregor destroys previous MMA record for pay-per-views|last=Meltzer|first=Dave|date=2018-10-11|website=MMA Fighting|access-date=2019-03-18}}</ref>

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 ===
[[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>

Since the beginning of 2022, WWE has used the term "Premium Live Events" instead of pay-per-view to promote their availability via subscription platforms such as WWE Network and other streaming services (such as [[Peacock (streaming service)|Peacock]]), although they still remain available via traditional PPV.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kilbane |first=Lyle |date=January 3, 2022 |title=WWE Reportedly Rebrand Pay-Per-Views Under New Name |url=https://itrwrestling.com/news/wwe-reportedly-rebrand-pay-per-views/ |access-date=January 5, 2022 |work=Inside the Ropes}}</ref><ref name=":22">{{Cite web |last=Spangler |first=Todd |date=2021-01-25 |title=NBCU's Peacock Pins WWE Network Exclusive U.S. Streaming Rights |url=https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/wwe-network-peacock-exclusively-streaming-1234890954/ |access-date=2021-01-25 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hayes |first=Dade |date=2021-01-25 |title=Peacock Adds Wrestling In WWE Network Streaming Exclusive |url=https://deadline.com/2021/01/peacock-adds-wrestling-in-wwe-network-streaming-exclusive-1234679617/ |access-date=2021-01-25 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref>

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

=== Concerts ===
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.

In 2015, PPV broadcasts of the [[Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of the Grateful Dead]] tour set a record for buys for a music event, with over 400,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2015/music/news/grateful-dead-pay-per-view-record-1201548827/|title=Grateful Dead Farewell Concerts Set Pay Per View Record|last1=Zumberge|first1=Marianne|date=2015-07-25|website=Variety|access-date=2019-03-18}}</ref>

===United Kingdom and Ireland===
Viewers in the [[United Kingdom]] and [[Ireland]] can access pay-per-view via satellite, cable and [[IPTV|over-the-internet]] television services, mainly for films, boxing, [[mixed martial arts]] and American [[professional wrestling]] via services such as [[Sky Box Office]] and [[TNT Sports Box Office]]. Recent years has seen the number of pay-per-view boxing events significantly increase and currently all of the UK's top fights are only available via pay-per-view. Broadcasters (most notably [[PremPlus]]) have abandoned their aspirations to introduce PPV into other sports markets following poor interest from the public.

In October 2020 during the [[2020–21 Premier League|2020-21 season]], the [[Premier League]] experimented with PPV telecasts of football matches not selected for broadcasts by its main rightsholders (which are usually [[Blackout (broadcasting)|blacked out]] 3:00&nbsp;p.m. kickoffs, amid the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom]], which prevented any attendance of the matches). However, the matches proved unpopular, with team supporters' groups urging fans to make donations to charity instead, and the Premier League announcing that it would allocate the extra matches among its existing rightsholders (TNT and Sky, as well as [[Amazon Prime Video]] and [[BBC Sport]], with some on free-to-air TV) through at least the end of 2020, as it had done during the conclusion of the previous season.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Plan will drive fans to illegal streams|language=en-GB|work=BBC Sport|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/54491180|access-date=2020-10-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=BBC and Amazon to air games as Premier League ends PPV experiment|url=https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/premier-league-ppv-scrapped-bbc-amazon-sky-bt|access-date=2020-11-18|website=SportsPro Media|date=13 November 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Kilpatrick|first=Dan|date=2020-10-20|title=Tottenham fans join support for food banks over Premier League PPVs|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/tottenham-news-charity-not-ppv-premier-league-sky-sports-bt-sport-a4572281.html|access-date=2020-11-18|website=www.standard.co.uk|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Collings|first=Simon|date=2020-10-26|title=Arsenal fans raise £34k for Islington Giving charity in PPV boycott|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/arsenal-fc-news-premier-league-ppv-boycott-charity-islington-giving-a4572988.html|access-date=2020-11-18|website=www.standard.co.uk|language=en}}</ref>

===Canada===
In Canada, most specialty television providers provide pay-per-view programming through one or more services. In all cases, prices typically range from around [[Canadian dollar|C$]]4.99 (for movies) up to $50 or more for special events.

Initially, there were three major PPV providers in Canada; [[Viewers Choice]] operated in Eastern Canada as a joint venture of [[Astral Media]], [[Rogers Communications]], and [[The Sports Network|TSN]]. [[Western International Communications]] operated a separate service in the west initially known as Home Theatre; it was later rebranded as Viewers Choice under license.

Viewers Choice Canada was a partner in a French-language PPV service known as [[Canal Indigo]], which is now entirely owned by [[Videotron]]. [[Bell Canada]] launched a PPV service for its [[Bell Satellite TV|ExpressVu]] television provider known as [[Vu!]] in 1999.

Home Theatre was later acquired by [[Shaw Communications]]; after gaining permission to operate nationally, it re-branded as a [[White-label product|white-label]] PPV known internally as [[Shaw PPV]] in December 2007. In 2014, due to [[Bell Media]]'s majority ownership of Viewers Choice because of its acquisition of Astral, and because both Bell and Rogers now ran their own in-house PPV operations (Vu! and [[Sportsnet PPV]]), Viewers Choice was shut down.<ref name="multinews-vcc-shutdown">{{cite web|url=http://www.multichannel.com/news/networks/viewers-choice-canada-winding-down/382680|first=Kent|last=Gibbons|title=Viewers Choice Canada Winding Down: Bell, Rogers-Owned Pay-Per-View Provider Closing Sept. 30|work=[[Multichannel News]]|date=2014-07-22|access-date=2014-07-23}}</ref>

===Mainland Europe===
In [[Romania]], cable communications operator UPC Romania has notified the National Audiovisual Council (CNA) on the intention to introduce in January, February 2014 at the latest, an on-demand audiovisual media service called Agerpres. According to the manager of UPC Romania-owned Smaranda Radoi UPC, will allow customers to watch movies on demand or live events; as well as broadcasts of performances, concerts and sporting events.

In November 2008, pay-per-view made its debut in [[Albania]] through [[Digitalb]] on terrestrial and satellite television, with the channel DigiGold.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.digitalb.al/ppv/ |title=Digitalb – Pay per View :: Digigold |publisher=Digitalb.al |access-date=2011-11-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111101235216/http://www.digitalb.al/ppv/ |archive-date=2011-11-01 }}</ref>

In France, launched in the late 1990s, Canalsat (Ciné+) and TPS (Multivision) operate their own pay-per-view service. While CanalSat holds the rights to live soccer matches for France's Ligue 1, TPS had the rights for Boxe matches. In 2007, Multivision service ceased by the end of TPS service which merged with Canalsat. Nowadays, Ciné+ is the only existing pay-per-view service in France.

In [[Croatia]], [[Fight Channel]] is broadcasting martial arts events organized by the world's most prominent fighting organizations, such as the [[Ultimate Fighting Championship|UFC]], [[K-1]], [[HBO Boxing]], Dream, Glory WS, World Series of Boxing etc. and its pay-per-view service covers the [[Balkans]] region.

[[Sky Deutschland]], accessible in Germany, Austria and partially in Switzerland, provided nine PPV-Channels called "Sky Select", where their regular Pay-TV customers can see movies or various sports events such as boxing or soccer.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sky.at/bestellung-sky-select-6520 |title=Sky Select |access-date=2020-04-29 }}</ref> As of 1 October 2020, only sport and wrestling events remained on PPV as movies were changed towards a streaming service.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sky.de/bestellung-sky-select-6520|title=Sky Select|access-date=2020-10-06 }}</ref>

===South America===
{{Unreferenced section|date=November 2022}}

Per nations with Pay-Per-View or PPV system in South América:

In Argentina, [[Torneos y Competencias]] is a producer and sports events organization that are broadcasts live main matches of Argentine [[Soccer]] in four categories on [[TyC Sports]], TyC Max (six channels), TyC Sports 2, TyC Sports 4 and TyC Sports 5.

In Brazil, in the soccer main matches of Serie A (Six games per matchday) and Serie B (Four games per matchday) in two categories of Brazilian Soccer are broadcast live on [[Premiere FC]] and [[SporTV]]. The Serie C Championship are broadcast live on SporTV with two games per matchday in Pay TV. In other sports are broadcast live on NBB TV (Exclusive channel of Brazilian Basketball League in Premium system).

In [[Chile]], the exclusive rights of Chilean Soccer are owned by '''TV Fútbol''' and broadcast live on a channel called ''Canal Del Fútbol'' ('''The Soccer Channel'''), also known '''[[Canal del Fútbol (Chile)|CDF]]'''. '''Sports Field S.A.''' has exclusive rights to games on the Chilean professional basketball league, which are broadcast live vía CDO (Premium Signal).

In [[Paraguay]], the Teledeportes producer business have exclusive rights to broadcast live main matches of Paraguayan Soccer in four categories vía Tigo Max and Tigo Sports. Teledeportes have live broadcast of Paraguayan Basketball League broadcast Tuesday at 9:00 pm on Tigo Sports (K.O 21:15) and Wednesday at 8:55 pm on Tigo Max  (K.O 21:10).

In [[Uruguay]], the [[Tenfield]] producer business and sports events organization have television exclusive rights for the Uruguayan soccer and basketball club championships, which are broadcast on VTV and VTV Plus.

===Australia and the Pacific Islands===
[[Foxtel]] and [[Optus Vision]] introduced pay-per-view direct to home [[television in Australia]] in the mid-to-late 1990s. Foxtel had Event TV (until it transformed into its current form; [[Main Event (TV channel)|Main Event]]) while, Optus Vision had Main Attraction Pay-Per-View as its provider. As of 2005, Main Event is the current pay-per-view provider through Foxtel and Optus cable/satellite subscription.

[[Sky Pacific]] started a service in Fiji in 2005 and then expanded into American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati (East), Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu, with one, out of their 25 channels, being Pay-Per-View.<ref>Sky Pacific 'About Us' Page [http://www.skypacific.tv/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=112&Itemid=65] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418205418/http://www.skypacific.tv/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=112&Itemid=65|date=2015-04-18}} Retrieved 10th June 2015.</ref>

===Asia===
In [[Malaysia]], [[Astro (satellite TV)|Astro]]'s ''[[Astro Box Office]]'' service launched in 2000 in the form of the [[free-to-air]] "Astro Showcase".

In [[Japan]], [[SkyPerfecTV]] subscribers can receive one-click pay-per-view access to hundreds of channels supplying domestic and international sporting events (including WWE events), movies, and specialty programming, either live or later on continuous repeat on its channel.

In India a pay-per-view service operates; however, pay-per-view sports broadcasts are available. Now also live events like WWE.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}}