By Robert H. Shaw , Pioneer Communications of America, Inc
Pay-Per-View programming is becoming an increasingly important source of revenue for the cable operator. To increase the subscriber buy rate, it is necessary for the cable operator to offer a wide variety of programming which will entice the subscriber to buy more frequently. The current use of satellite distribution allows many cable systems to provide quality programming as well as frequent "Blockbuster" events. However, the satellite delivered system does not allow for customization of program offerings. Video tape systems allow for customization, but ai the expense of lower equipment reliability and higher maintenance requirements. A Laserdisc based system can offer customized programming with low maintenance, high reliability and a quality signal. It is the intent of this paper to present a comparison between the different technologies available to allow the cable operator to determine which system would work best in his particular application.