Metropolitan Opera’s HD broadcasts break 2 million barrier

May 12, 2010
By Michael Quinn

The Metropolitan Opera’s high-definition live opera broadcasts were seen by a global audience of 2.2 million in its fourth season.

The Met: Live in HD program shattered last year’s total of 1.8 million ticket sales and has grown almost seven-fold since the 325,000 tickets sold for its first season, which launched in December 2006. The current season’s finale, a live transmission of a first staging at the Met of Rossini’s Armida, directed by Mary Zimmerman and starring Renée Fleming, was broadcast to 600 screens in North America alone, earning $2.2 million on an average ticket price of $20. In all, five million tickets have been sold to domestic and international audiences.

Opening on 9 October, the fifth season will feature 11 operas – including a new production of Das Rheingold and will expand its international operations into new territories, including Spain and Portugal for the first time, to bring the total number of countries carrying the broadcasts to 46.


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