Showtime "has angered some cable operators" by giving
"their main competitor," DirecTV, the exclusive rights to
offer the October 23 Mike Tyson-Orlin Norris fight to its
subscribers, according to John Dempsey of DAILY VARIETY, who
writes "although subscribers who get Showtime over cable
will receive the fight telecast," all DirecTV subscribers
will be able to view the fight "whether they pay for
Showtime or not." Falcon Cable TV VP Lynne Buening: "This
is troublesome and extremely discouraging." Sources said
that Showtime "risked the wrath of cable operators because
it's counting on the proven marketing skills of DirecTV to
pump up the audience for the fight." The fight is the
"first Tyson bout ever" to premiere live on Showtime instead
of PPV. Showtime Senior Marketing Consultant Suzan Couch:
"DirecTV is being aggressive about using this marketing ploy
because it wants to offer something special to its entire
assimilated base of subscribers for the first time." The
"entire base" refers to "defunct" Primestar subscribers, who
are now with DirecTV (DAILY VARIETY, 10/15).
