In Pay-Per-View, Stern and Clay Rub Each Other’s Backs

Andrew Dice Clay’s last pay-per-view special, “No Apologies . . .,” was in July, 1993. About 100,000 homes bought the event. That’s a decent, although certainly not extraordinary, buy rate of 0.5% for entertainment programming. (Howard Stern’s New Year’s Eve special broke all entertainment pay-per-view records with a 2% buy rate, or 400,000 buys.) About 20 million homes are capable of ordering pay-per-view programming.

Campbell McLaren, general manager of Semaphore Entertainment Group, the company behind both events, says Clay’s upcoming concert is on track to do at least as well, probably better. (Exact numbers of how many homes buy a pay-per-view event are usually not known for a week or so until after the event.)

McLaren says Stern’s success will rub off on Clay: “Absolutely. Howard Stern should get a medal from the pay-per-view industry. Because he went on national radio every day for four months and told people over and over how to order pay-per-view. He really educated the public about pay-per-view--although Andrew’s first pay-per-view concert educated Howard what pay-per-view could do.”