THERE'S A REAL FIGHT GOING ON

In the world of professional boxing, there are many warring factions. But few are as heated and intense as the battle for control of the money you the consumer puts forth on premium television.

CABLE, THE LONGTIME CHAMP

On one side, we have the longtime champion in Cable TV. Unchallenged in it's 30 + years of existence, Cable TV now finds itself on the ropes as Americans have discovered another median in which to watch the  tube, and
that is the Satellite Dish.

DISH MEANS "ALL THE FIGHTS"

As a boxing fan, you can not only increase your ability to watch fights ten fold, but it's not going to cost you nearly as much as you might think to acquire the Digital Satellite System (D.S.S.) Dish.

#1 CONTENDER LOOKING TO "TAKE CHAMP OUT"

The major provider of "premium" Satellite Dish programing is the United States Satellite Broadcasting System. The Director of Pay Per View for the Twin Cities based U.S.S.B. is Colleen Galloway. Recently Ms. Galloway
appeared on Ring Talk.

RT-How long has USSB been around?

CG-We first went on the air in 1994.

RT-As Director of Pay Per View, what do you do?

CG-Essentially I work with different boxing promoters and those of other types of events to bring Pay Per View events to U.S.S.B. and available Digital Satellite Systems.

RT-Is the Digital Satellite System different from the Dish?

CG-Well, actually the Digital Satellite System is the 18 inch D.S.S. system is how you receive the USSB programing.

RT-What is the difference between USSB and Direct TV.

CG-Probably the easiest way to describe is as in Cable television you have your basic networks and your premium networks. On the D.S.S. system the basic networks are offered by Direct TV and the premium networks are offered by U.S.S.B. And so U.S.S.B. offers HBO, SHOWTIME, Cinemax, the Movie Channel, all the usual premium channels. Add to that the big Pay Per View events to the Digital Satellite System.

RT -How many dishes are up and going in the U.S.?

CG-Currently, there are over 4.2 million homes with a D.S.S. system. U.S.S.B. has just now surpassed the two million mark in subscriptions.

RT-How fast is the public responding?

CG-In December, because of the holiday season we will be adding close to a quarter of a million households. During the rest of the year, there are between 100, and 150,000 D.S.S. systems being purchased a month. What's so neat for boxing fans is that we offer boxing events on U.S.S.B. and on the Digital Satellite System that you can't see anywhere else. So, if you're a boxing fan that wants to see every fight out there, you have to get a D.S.S. Dish.

RT-Why is it a lot of consumers hate their cable companies?

CG-Having worked in Cable earlier in my career, I don't want to bad mouth them too bad. But I think that Cable got a little greedy and did not foresee the competition that was coming. And they didn't react quickly enough. They raised rates indiscriminately and didn't pay attention to the consumer. As in all cases, competition is a healthy thing and I'm glad that the Dish is as satisfying a product as it is. People that have the D.S.S. system love it.

RT-It sounds like all this programing is pretty expensive. Isn't Cable cheaper?

CG-Your monthly price for your basic channels from Direct TV and U.S.S.B. will run you about the same if not less than what you are currently paying for cable and you'll get a lot more channels. At USSB we offer five different channels of HBO for $10.95 a month as compared to one or two that you might get from your cable company. We offer four channels of SHOWTIME, three for Cinemax. You get a lot more of the feeds and different channels of these premium networks than you're used to, and yet it costs the same per month. Pedro, for the sports fan, it is the greatest. I'm able to catch all the fights on the D.S.S. Dish. I get all the FOX Networks, the three ESPN channels. The reason we can say that U.S.S.B. has the best boxing on TV is that we carry all the HBO and SHOWTIME FIGHTS, and there have been some great ones lately.

RT-We talked about the monthly rates. What about the cost of the Dish?

CG-They vary in prices depending on where you live. But the average cost is about $199. And then you could get second receivers for other TV's in the house for around $99 and that allows you to watch more than one channel on the different sets in your house. Add the fact that is is Digital programing and the clarity of your picture is gorgeous. It's night and day from Cable. You have an interactive guide with over 200 channels. It's really a lot more than you can get from Cable TV.

RT-What about this H.D.T.V.?

CG-High Definition Television. USSB is currently launching it's first H.D.T.V. premium service with HBO's first H.D.T.V. channel coming out early next year. There are also High Definition TV's with D.S.S. systems already built right in.

RT-What about local programing and the Dish?

CG-Some of the Dishes have a local antenna built right into them. The SONY Dish, which I have has that feature. As long as you can pick local stations up with an antenna on your roof, it's not a problem.

Note: For further information on U.S.S.B. and their outstanding programing, you look them up on the Web at http://www.ussb.com


Pedro Fernandez

The writer has his own site at www.fighters.com and can be reached at flash@inow.com

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