--- title: "What Is Live Pay-Per-View? Definition and Examples" description: "Live pay-per-view sells a ticket to a single live stream. See how to price it, protect it and keep checkout working at the start-time rush." url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/live-ppv" markdown_url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/live-ppv.md" category: "Live & linear" updated: "2026-10-05" --- # What is live pay-per-view? Live pay-per-view is selling access to a single live stream for a one-time ticket price. The buyer can watch that event as it happens and usually a replay for a limited time afterward. ## How live pay-per-view works The event is listed with a price before it starts. A viewer buys a ticket, which adds an entitlement for that event to their account. When the stream goes live, the player checks the entitlement before starting playback. Sales normally stay open during the event. ## Pricing a live event - Anchor on what the audience pays to attend in person or to watch similar events - Offer an early-bird price to bring sales forward and gauge demand - Set prices per region, since what a fight or concert is worth varies widely by market - Consider a pass covering a series or season for regular viewers - Decide whether subscribers get a discount ## What goes wrong, and how to prevent it Most purchases happen in the last half hour. If checkout or sign-in slows at that moment, buyers miss the opening and ask for refunds. Load-test the purchase path, not only the video, and open doors early with a pre-show. Live events are also the most pirated content. Limit each ticket to one stream at a time, restrict playback to licensed regions, use DRM, and for high-value events add forensic watermarking so that a restream can be traced and shut down while the event is still running. ## Live pay-per-view on RentAnOTT One-time ticket sales are included on every RentAnOTT plan with no platform cut. Live events are included on Growth and Scale and are a $119/month add-on on Launch. [See pricing](https://www.rentanott.com/pricing). ## Related terms - [Pay-per-view](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/pay-per-view) — Pay-per-view (PPV) is a model where a viewer pays once to watch a single program, most often a live event such as a fight, a match or a concert, rather than subscribing to a channel or catalog. - [Live event](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/live-event) — A live event is a single scheduled stream with a defined start and end, such as a match, a concert, a conference or a premiere. Unlike a linear channel it does not run continuously, and unlike on-demand video everyone watches it at the same time. - [TVOD](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/tvod) — TVOD (transactional video on demand) is a streaming model where viewers pay once for a single title or event, either renting it for a limited time or buying it to keep. - [Live streaming](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/live-streaming) — Live streaming is delivering video over the internet as it is captured, so that viewers watch an event while it is happening, with a delay of a few seconds rather than after a recording has been uploaded. - [Concurrent viewers](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/concurrent-viewers) — Concurrent viewers is the number of people watching a service's video at the same moment. The highest value reached, peak concurrency, determines how much streaming capacity the service needs. - [Concurrent stream limit](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/concurrent-stream-limit) — A concurrent stream limit is the maximum number of devices that can play video on one account at the same moment. When the limit is reached, a further device is refused or an existing stream is stopped. - [Forensic watermarking](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/forensic-watermarking) — Forensic watermarking embeds an invisible identifier, unique to each viewer or session, into the video itself. If a copy appears on a piracy site, the identifier can be extracted to find the account it came from. - [Geo-blocking](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/geo-blocking) — Geo-blocking is restricting access to video according to the viewer's location, so that a title can only be played in the countries or regions where the service holds the rights to show it. ## Further reading - [Pay-per-view for IPTV and OTT](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs/iptv-pay-per-view) - [Choosing a live streaming player](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs/live-streaming-player) - [Localized pricing calculator](https://www.rentanott.com/tools/localized-pricing-calculator) ## Frequently asked questions ### Can viewers buy after the event has started? Yes, and many do. Keep sales open throughout, and let late buyers either join live or start from the beginning if your player supports it. ### How long should the replay be available? Commonly 24 hours to seven days. Long enough for other time zones and for anyone who had trouble during the live stream. ### How are refunds handled if the stream fails? Set the policy before the event and publish it. Automatic refunds or credits for a failed stream cost less than the disputes and chargebacks that follow if you have no policy. All 163 terms: [Streaming and OTT glossary](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary). ## Book a demo Tell RentAnOTT what you are launching. The team walks through the platform and maps the path to go-live around your catalog, markets and revenue model. Book a demo: https://www.rentanott.com/contact ## More from RentAnOTT - [Home](https://www.rentanott.com/index.md) — What RentAnOTT is, what every plan includes, and how launch works - [Features](https://www.rentanott.com/features.md) — Every core feature and optional add-on - [Pricing](https://www.rentanott.com/pricing.md) — Platform tiers, apps, add-ons, usage rates and example bills in INR and USD - [Free tools](https://www.rentanott.com/tools.md) — OTT app builder and calculators for streaming revenue, bandwidth, bitrate and pricing - [Insights](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs.md) — All streaming business articles - [Glossary](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary.md) — Definitions of streaming and OTT terms - [Book a demo](https://www.rentanott.com/contact.md) — Talk to RentAnOTT about your launch Full site in one file: https://www.rentanott.com/llms-full.txt