Viewer's Choice, which recently scored a "major sports
pay-per-view coup" in acquiring digital rights to the NBA
"League Pass," will distribute the service "via its 33-
channel digital-PPV service," according to R. Thomas Umstead
of MULTICHANNEL NEWS. While only "slightly more than" two
million HHs have access to digital technology, "only about
one-half of those have enough PPV channels to distribute the
games." Viewer's Choice is in talks to add an "additional
transponder and expand its channel lineup," as cable systems
"will have to clear as many as 12 channels" for the NBA
package. NBA President of TV & New Media Ventures Ed Desser
said that a "key" to the NBA's selection of Viewer's Choice
was that VC was an operator "actually offering digital
technology. ... We don't expect [analog carriage] to be very
common." Desser, on the initial limited scope of a digital
cable universe: "While we recognize that it isn't without
total impact, we're comfortable that the impact will be very
small. What we want to do is balance the distribution among
all platforms." Umstead reports that last season, the NBA
"League Pass" on DBS pulled "about" 425,000 subscribers and
earned "around" $60M (MULTICHANNEL NEWS, 8/9 issue).
