ABC Begins Pay-Per-View Football

ABC’s experiment with pay-per-view college football begins Saturday.

The western part of the United States will get USC at San Diego State at 12:30 p.m. on ABC, but viewers in this region who would rather see one or both of ABC’s other regional telecasts, Texas A&M; at Louisiana State and Notre Dame at Northwestern, may have that option--for a price.

On most weekends, as many as three pay-per-view games, distributed by Showtime Entertainment Television, will be available on participating cable systems. The suggested price for one game is $8.95, with additional games available for $1.

About half of the cable systems in Southern California--about 35--are offering the pay-per-view option. And about 20 of those are able to offer only one pay-per-view game. On those systems, the cost for one game may be $9.95.