Telemeter (Pay TV)
Telemeter was a North American pay television service operated by the International Telemeter Corporation. It was based on a coin mechanism that released an encrypted signal when money was inserted, which was distributed via coaxial cable . Because the radio was not used, the FCC regulator was not responsible in the 1950s . Telemeter was in service from 1953 to 1965, first in the USA, then in Canada.
The first tests began on November 28, 1953 in Palm Springs with the transmission of the feature film The Spicy Years of a Woman (Forever Female) . The users could choose between three programs. Up to 148 households participated, spending an average of $ 10 per month. The trial operation was stopped again in May 1954, as the film library could only be filled by the parent company Paramount Pictures for antitrust reasons .
After another 8 million US dollars to perfect the system, there was another attempt on February 26, 1960 in Canada, since the anti-trust restrictions from the USA did not apply here. In the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke and the neighboring districts of Long Branch, Mimico and New Toronto, the service was offered and advertised that films were shown without commercial breaks. The connection fee was $ 5, and then you paid for each selected shipment (pay as you see). In addition to new feature films, Telemeter also offered sports broadcasts and some Broadway shows. Operations resumed on April 30, 1965 after losses of over $ 3 million. At peak times, Telemeter had almost 6,000 subscribers.
literature
- Subscription film on channel 6. In: Der Spiegel. Rudolf Augstein, July 14, 1954, accessed on August 29, 2019 .
- Peter Lev: Transforming the Screen, 1950-1959 . University of California Press, Berkeley / Los Angeles 2003, ISBN 978-0-520-24966-0 , pp. 132 ff . ( limited preview in Google Book search).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kashann Kilson: How Movie Theaters Banished Telemeter, Herald of Both Netflix and HBO, to Canada. In: Inverse. Nick Lucchesi, April 25, 2016, accessed August 29, 2019 .
- ↑ Harley Howe: Will You Pay for TV Shows? . In: Popular Science , Popular Science Publishing Co. Inc., April 1, 1952.
- ↑ CANADA: Pay & See TV , Times, 1960-03-14
- ↑ Kevin Plummer: Historicist: The World's First Pay-Per-View TV Show. In: TORONTOist. Daily Hive, June 15, 2013, accessed August 29, 2019 .