Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service by which a viewer can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it.
Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guide, an automated telephone system, or through a live customer service representative. There has been an increasing number of pay-per-views distributed via streaming video online, either alongside or in lieu of carriage through television providers. In 2012, the popular video sharing service YouTube began to allow partners to host live PPV events on the platform.Events distributed through PPV typically include combat sports events such as boxing and mixed martial arts (focusing primarily on cards that include one or more significant title fights), sports entertainment such as professional wrestling, and concerts. In the past, PPV was often used to distribute telecasts of feature films, as well as adult content such as pornographic films, but the growth of digital cable and streaming media caused these use cases to be subsumed by video on demand systems (which allow viewers to purchase and view pre-recorded content at any time) instead, leaving PPV to focus primarily on live event programs.