Science Fiction Dictionary
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

 

Will The Super Bowl Go To Pay Per View?

John Skipper (formerly ESPN president) has had some interesting speculations on how conference realignment or a 12-team playoff could end up bringing a pay-per-view or paid service model into play for college football.

You can also factor in that Super Bowl audiences, while still humungous, have been declining steadily in recent years. Couple that with the fact that ad rates continue to skyrocket and perhaps there’s a tipping point in the near future where networks start rethinking their investment and the NFL starts wondering if it can simply make more money moving the biggest sporting event in America to a paid service or PPV model.

(Via MSN.)

Science fiction fans may be wondering why this topic has ended up on a site about science fiction predictions and inventions. Well, it turns out that Dr. David H. Keller, M.D. predicted pay per view television in his excellent 1929 story The Threat of the Robot:

"...they started to broadcast other features, like parades, prizefights and tennis matches. Their charges were low, and they counted on the volume of business to bring returns. For example, this afternoon’s football game cost each person who had one of the television screens one dollar for the privilege. Of course, as many persons as could crowd in a room could see it for that dollar. Out of that dollar, thirty cents goes to each of the teams and the remaining forty cents to the company.

“The effect on the theater was at once seen, but no one realized just what this invention would do for sports. It seemed that everybody arrived at the same decision at the same time: namely, that it was easier to stay at home and see a prizefight or a tennis game for a dollar than it was to fight the crowds and pay anywhere from five to fifty dollars for poor accommodations. The attendance at all the sports fell off in an astonishing manner, and the various promoters would have been bankrupt had it not been for the generosity of the television companies.

(Read more about the prediction of pay per view television)

Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 7/19/2021)

Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.

| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |

Would you like to contribute a story tip? It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add it here.

Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )

Related News Stories - (" Communication ")

EBS-260 Handjet Free Hand Dot Matrix Printer
'McKie held a chalf-memory stick over the dusted surface.' - Frank Herbert, 1964.

CD, DVD Bit Rot And PKD's Civic Notification Distorter
'...copy two of the original document no longer can be superimposed on copy one.' - Philip K. Dick, 1965.

Zoom Education Idea Is 100 Years Old
'... the frosted glass squares began, one by one, to show the faces and shoulders of a peculiar type of young men.' - Harry Stephen Keeler, 1915.

'A Sign in Space' Gives Practice In Decoding ET Messages
'... it will be easy to form an alphabet which shall enable us to converse with the inhabitants of the moon.' - Jules Verne, 1867.

 

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

 

 

 

 

Science Fiction Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's   1950's
1960's   1970's
1980's   1990's
2000's   2010's

Current News

Wearable Energy Harvester
'... he had tightened the chest to gain maximum pumping action from the motion of breathing.'

Drones Participate In Buddhist Rites
'...a prayer wheel swung into view and began spinning at a furious pace.'

Anna Indiana AI Singer-Songwriter
'She is a personality-construct, a congeries of software agents'

Video Manicuring ala Schismatrix
'The program raced up the screen one scan line at a time'

'Feel the AGI' OpenAI Leader Now OpenWorship
'And are all the people willing to be governed by a machine?'

NASA Tests Prototype Europa Lander
Why have legs if they don't walk around?

Tailsitter Drone Aircraft For SAR
'...it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair.'

Forward CarePod The AI Doctor's Office
'It's an old model,' Rawlins said. 'I'm not sure what to do.'

Mika The Robot-Boss
'the robot-boss was busy at the lip of the new lode instructing and egging the men on to greater speed...'

Yamaha Motoroid 2 No Handlebars Self-Balancing Motorcycle
'He rode the bike with an intense lack of physical grace...'

San Francisco Autobus
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street...'

Should Your Car Decide If You Can Drive?
'Okay. Maybe the car was right...'

Lucid Dreams On Demand From Prophetic and Card79
'the peeper did not operate by virtue of its machinery alone, but by the reaction of the brain and the body of its user...'

Honda UNI-ONE Hands-Free Wheelchair Follows 100 Year-Old Design
'Noiselessly, on rubber-tired wheels, they journeyed...'

EBS-260 Handjet Free Hand Dot Matrix Printer
'McKie held a chalf-memory stick over the dusted surface.'

Sensitive, Soft Robot Skin
'...tinted material that had all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.'

More SF in the News Stories

More Beyond Technovelgy science news stories

Home | Glossary | Invention Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.