Video: Pay-Per-View Starts Perking

A spate of mega-events spurs a new TV option

The collection of talent was impressive, if not quite a match for the hyperbolic title: Frank, Liza & Sammy: The Ultimate Event! Still, when Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli and Sammy Davis Jr. commanded the stage two weeks ago for a 90-minute TV concert, they were doing more than just a routine network special. The concert was the latest offering in a busy new realm of video mega-events: pay-per-view television.

Pay-per-view is hardly the ultimate in TV technology, but it may be an idea whose time has finally come. Conventional pay-cable channels, like HBO and Showtime, offer viewers a smorgasbord of programming...

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