The Spice Girls may soon join the Rolling Stones, the Judds
and New Kids on the Block in the pay-per-view concert Hall of Fame.
Preliminary reports placed buys for the pop group's
Jan. 17 PPV event at around the 100,000 mark, well above the nearly 60,000 buys generated
by November's Rolling Stones concert.
While Showtime Event Television, which distributed the
event, said it was too early to project total concert buys, early performance numbers are
'surpassing our expectations.'
Operators offering the $19.95 event said the show turned
into an unexpected hit. The concert was part of a major promotional push for the
British-based group, which also included the group's recently released theatrical
film.
Paragon Cable in San Antonio drew 398 buys for the event --
nearly six times its normal number for concerts, and well beyond the paltry 50 buys for
the Rolling Stones event.
'They're popular right now, and they have an
interesting draw within the Hispanic community,' said T.J. Connolly, vice president
of public affairs for the system.
Media General Cable of Fairfax, Va., pulled 611 orders for
the first two showings of the event, surpassing the 535 buys generated from 10 exhibitions
of the Rolling Stones concert.
One Midwest operator also heralded the concert, which was
one of the system's most successful concerts ever.
'If we had time to really promote the event, it might
have done significantly better,' she said.
