NBC, which had broadcast rights to the Games,[Note 1][1] believed that viewers would be willing to pay US$95 to $170 to watch events live, which would normally be shown on tape delay on the network in prime time.
A special three-button remote control with the colors of the channels as the buttons was offered by some cable operators for free as a lure to sign up for the service.
[5] As an added inducement for viewers to order the package, Triplecast coverage featured star announcers and pundits, such as Chick Hearn for basketball and Bob Papa for boxing.
Early reports of slow sales even inspired David Letterman, then hosting NBC's Late Night, to make jokes about the Triplecast.
Another attempt to boost interest was made by airing a three-way split screen of the Triplecast channels in hour-long blocks on CNBC, but with no audio.
[9] It was enough of a flop that Chuck Dolan was already acknowledging by August 6 that "the public didn't find enough incremental value for the Triplecast over what they could get on NBC" and that "we blew it from an economic point of view."
[10] The Triplecast service took a very austere, no-frills approach to broadcasting that included event play-by-play and commentary, but few graphics and absolutely no feature stories or background vignettes.
While NBC alone broadcast the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in the United States, it decided to use cable television partners for its subsequent telecasts.