Picture this: a prosperous suburban home, somewhere in Ireland, a Saturday afternoon. In a carpeted room - scattered with cushions, chairs and remote controls - stands the wide-screen television. Between satellite and terrestrial digital systems, this home has more than 300 channels to choose from. Let's switch it on and surf. Okay, old kids' cartoons . . . more old kids' cartoons . . . an old movie . . . another old movie . . . a chat show . . . country-music videos . . . more country-music videos.
The next channel shows a blank, blue screen, with a few words on it: "Soccer: Manchester United v Sheffield Wednesday, kick-off 3 p.m., £7.50" plus a series of codes we can punch in to book the match for this telly. When we do, the pre-game programme jumps into life - and our account with the provider is debited by £7.50. Other channels show similar blank screens: "Soccer: Bolton Wanderers v Liverpool"; "Rugby: Italy v Ireland"; "Hurling: Tipperary v Waterford"; "Basketball: Bulls v Knicks"; "Concert: Oasis at Wembley"; "Film: Peacemaker"; "Film: Hercules" - dozens and dozens of such programme titles, each with a price attached.
Small discounts are available for prior block-booking of particular events. A Manchester United supporter in Ireland can buy a season ticket for Old Trafford - and never have to leave the sitting room to see the matches.
back to reality
All that is, of course, a fantasy. Or is it? Systems like this are already in place in other parts of the world. A viewer in New Jersey, USA, can choose among scores of ball games, concerts and movies from her digital-satellite provider; soccer fans in Italy can see live Serie A matches via pay-per-view on Telepui.
Sky Sports now has three all-sports channels, and the introduction of digital TV in Britain next year means many more channels are to come. When will Sky take its most profitable output, soccer, and start showing more matches - but with a fee attached?
For the moment, executives at BSkyB, the parent company, are very cautious, fearing a public backlash. There have been, after all, plenty of complaints about pay-per-view boxing, and viewers were never accustomed to seeing top title fights on "free" terrestrial TV stations like RTE and the BBC. How would we react to premium-priced football?
Last month, Sky had rights to the Italy v England match from Rome, but didn't charge for it - again, English viewers were already upset that the game wasn't on BBC or ITV, so how would they have reacted to an extra fee? That didn't stop Sky Sports from charging £9.95, however, for the line-up of fights that immediately followed the match. Last summer, Sky seriously considered introducing pay-per-view for the series of soccer friendly matches in France, Le Tournoi. Again, there was nothing to stop them legally, but after much internal debate, Sky Sports screened the matches free to subscribers. Sky's deal with the English Premier League is, however, explicit about pay-per-view. The prospect of introducing payments for specific Premiership matches was put off until 1998, at the earliest. It is likely to be the subject of fierce argument about how the additional revenue from viewers would be distributed.
a little list
Another fly in the ointment for Sky is the political and public debate about which sporting events should be available freely on terrestrial broadcast TV. In Britain, there is a governmentproduced "list" of events that are not only banned from pay-per-view, but are not allowed to be shown only on subscription channels such as Sky. These include England's horse-racing showpiece, the Grand National; the FA Cup final; the Thames boat race between Oxford and Cambridge; and international cricket test matches that take place in England. There is already talk of expanding the list to include crucial soccer and rugby internationals, and perhaps some golf. The European Commission is very keen on this politically popular subject, and member states including Ireland could see their "lists" fully backed by European law. Thus organisations like the GAA and FAI would be restricted in what they could sell to whom.
Some viewers would argue that with Sky Sports, you get what you pay for. Instead of waiting up until 11 p.m. to watch flat highlights on Match of the Day , Sky offers live coverage of all sorts of events, and has introduced sophisticated camera angles and replays - and much louder crowd noise than what the BBC provides. What do you think? Is the excitement worth the price?
