Community hub
Recent from talks
Contribute something to knowledge base
Content stats: 0 posts, 0 articles, 0 media, 0 notes
Members stats: 0 subscribers, 0 contributors, 0 moderators, 0 supporters
Subscribers
Supporters
Contributors
Moderators
Hub AI
Olympics Triplecast AI simulator
(@Olympics Triplecast_simulator)
Hub AI
Olympics Triplecast AI simulator
(@Olympics Triplecast_simulator)
Olympics Triplecast
The Olympics Triplecast was an experimental pay-per-view television package in the United States during the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. While an ambitious project, the Triplecast – a joint venture of NBC and Cablevision – was a massive financial failure.
NBC, which had broadcast rights to the Games, believed that viewers would be willing to pay US$95 to $170 to watch events live, which would normally be shown on tape delay on the network in prime time. It partnered with Cablevision, a prominent New York cable provider, to create three channels, dubbed Red, White, and Blue. A special three-button remote control with the colors of the channels as the buttons was offered by some cable operators for free as a lure to sign up for the service. Channels aired twelve hours per day (from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET) then repeated their content for the other twelve hours. Programs came from the world feed. As an added inducement for viewers to order the package, Triplecast coverage featured star announcers and pundits, such as Chick Hearn for basketball and Bob Papa for boxing.
Several issues plagued the Triplecast.
Cable providers took a lower profit cut than they normally do for pay-per-view events. A national center was also set up (1-800-OLYMPIC) to take calls, but it often had trouble telling if a viewer's cable system was participating. In January 1992, for instance, Chuck Dolan, head of Cablevision, tested the ordering system, which could not tell if his Cablevision Long Island system was carrying the Triplecast.
The biggest issue with the Triplecast was low uptake. NBC had estimated some two million people would subscribe to the programming. But Triplecast projections were only around 200,000-250,000, and the Pay-Per-View Update industry newsletter estimated 125,000. Early reports of slow sales even inspired David Letterman, then hosting NBC's Late Night, to make jokes about the Triplecast. Midway through the Games, discounts were applied for single-day service and weekend packages were added. But these attempts to boost the subscriber numbers largely failed. Another attempt to boost interest was made by airing a three-way split screen of the Triplecast channels in hour-long blocks on CNBC, but with no audio.
The final tally of Olympics Triplecast subscribers was 200,000. It was enough of a flop that Chuck Dolan was already acknowledging by August 6 that "the public didn't find enough incremental value for the Triplecast over what they could get on NBC" and that "we blew it from an economic point of view." It also surfaced that research figures were enhanced. While one percent of surveyed viewers said they would "definitely" buy the Triplecast, that number was enhanced in press materials by adding those who declared they would "probably" buy the service.
The Triplecast service took a very austere, no-frills approach to broadcasting that included event play-by-play and commentary, but few graphics and absolutely no feature stories or background vignettes. According to some Triplecast viewers, this made the primary NBC coverage seem "schmaltzy and overproduced". Additionally, NBC's main coverage was denigrated to an extent due to Triplecast viewers knowing some results ten hours or more before the events were aired on the main network.
Original Triplecast advertising promoted that the service was "live with no interruptions" — though half of the broadcast day was a repeat. The New York City Consumer Affairs Department charged NBC and Cablevision with deception in advertising as a result. Eventually, the parties settled, with NBC and Cablevision agreeing to clarify the advertising. In addition, about 10 percent of NBC's 205 affiliates refused to run Triplecast advertising because they did not want to promote competition for their broadcast. Some affiliates still aired the promos but with disclaimers stating that coverage will still air on the station for free.
Olympics Triplecast
The Olympics Triplecast was an experimental pay-per-view television package in the United States during the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. While an ambitious project, the Triplecast – a joint venture of NBC and Cablevision – was a massive financial failure.
NBC, which had broadcast rights to the Games, believed that viewers would be willing to pay US$95 to $170 to watch events live, which would normally be shown on tape delay on the network in prime time. It partnered with Cablevision, a prominent New York cable provider, to create three channels, dubbed Red, White, and Blue. A special three-button remote control with the colors of the channels as the buttons was offered by some cable operators for free as a lure to sign up for the service. Channels aired twelve hours per day (from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET) then repeated their content for the other twelve hours. Programs came from the world feed. As an added inducement for viewers to order the package, Triplecast coverage featured star announcers and pundits, such as Chick Hearn for basketball and Bob Papa for boxing.
Several issues plagued the Triplecast.
Cable providers took a lower profit cut than they normally do for pay-per-view events. A national center was also set up (1-800-OLYMPIC) to take calls, but it often had trouble telling if a viewer's cable system was participating. In January 1992, for instance, Chuck Dolan, head of Cablevision, tested the ordering system, which could not tell if his Cablevision Long Island system was carrying the Triplecast.
The biggest issue with the Triplecast was low uptake. NBC had estimated some two million people would subscribe to the programming. But Triplecast projections were only around 200,000-250,000, and the Pay-Per-View Update industry newsletter estimated 125,000. Early reports of slow sales even inspired David Letterman, then hosting NBC's Late Night, to make jokes about the Triplecast. Midway through the Games, discounts were applied for single-day service and weekend packages were added. But these attempts to boost the subscriber numbers largely failed. Another attempt to boost interest was made by airing a three-way split screen of the Triplecast channels in hour-long blocks on CNBC, but with no audio.
The final tally of Olympics Triplecast subscribers was 200,000. It was enough of a flop that Chuck Dolan was already acknowledging by August 6 that "the public didn't find enough incremental value for the Triplecast over what they could get on NBC" and that "we blew it from an economic point of view." It also surfaced that research figures were enhanced. While one percent of surveyed viewers said they would "definitely" buy the Triplecast, that number was enhanced in press materials by adding those who declared they would "probably" buy the service.
The Triplecast service took a very austere, no-frills approach to broadcasting that included event play-by-play and commentary, but few graphics and absolutely no feature stories or background vignettes. According to some Triplecast viewers, this made the primary NBC coverage seem "schmaltzy and overproduced". Additionally, NBC's main coverage was denigrated to an extent due to Triplecast viewers knowing some results ten hours or more before the events were aired on the main network.
Original Triplecast advertising promoted that the service was "live with no interruptions" — though half of the broadcast day was a repeat. The New York City Consumer Affairs Department charged NBC and Cablevision with deception in advertising as a result. Eventually, the parties settled, with NBC and Cablevision agreeing to clarify the advertising. In addition, about 10 percent of NBC's 205 affiliates refused to run Triplecast advertising because they did not want to promote competition for their broadcast. Some affiliates still aired the promos but with disclaimers stating that coverage will still air on the station for free.