CABLE television companies are convinced that interest in three recent pay per view sports events - shows the potential for pay television in this country.
Cablelink, the country's largest, with over 317,000 subscribers, says that over 22 per cent of those who subscribe to pay channels took the option to pay extra to view particular events on a pay per view basis.
The first such event, the BrunoTyson boxing match, was shown last St Patrick's Day. Even though it was screened in the middle of the night 4,719 people subscribed. The Tyson versus Holyfield bout in November drew 5,713 viewers, while the Night of Champions earlier this month was watched by 7,142 subscribers.
These figures relate only to pay per view through Cablelink and do not include subscribers to services provided by satellite.
The significance of the figures is that people are more willing than was thought to buy into extra, one off pay per view services. However, the problem seems to be to get people to buy into the premium pay channels on an annual basis in the first place, so they have the descrambling equipment making it possible to use pay per view facilities. Only 12 per cent of Cablelink customers in Dublin, Galway and Waterford have signed up for the extra pay channels.
Meanwhile, a Cablelink spokesman said no decision had been made as to whether it will offer Britain's Channel 5. The company's reluctance seems to be based on a concern to conserve channel capacity.