Theater

The Metropolitan Opera's Big Marketing Experiment

Authored by Rohit Bhargava on January 3, 2007 - 5:10am.

This weekend I headed to the movie theater to see A Night at the Museum, and before the film there was preview for the Metropolitan Opera's new initiative -- Saturday Matinees Live in HD at local theaters around the world. I have to admit, what first caught my attention in the trailer was the multiple "Apple-esque" logo placements for Edelman in the first moments of the spot. As it turns out, this effort is part of the Met's new marketing strategy in 2007 to broaden the appeal of the Opera to a wider global audience (and presumably realize another stream of revenue from productions as well). Along with the 8 live HD broadcasts of performances in movie theaters, they are also broadcasting weekly audio programs through a partnership with Sirius Radio. The website provides details on all the programs, including some nice links to allow patrons to support the Met in other ways by contributing or spreading the word.

Google Launches Shakespeare Site

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 14, 2006 - 1:23pm.

Mountain View, Calif. - Google on Wednesday announced the launch of its Shakespeare site, which features a searchable index of the writer's entire oeuvre of plays, as well as links to purchase printed copies.

Sprint to Use Zingy's Mobile Movie Theater Locator

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 9, 2006 - 4:56am.

New York - Zingy, a publisher of mobile entertainment and information content, announced on Monday that Sprint has launched a location-based service that helps mobile phone users locate nearby movie theaters. By pressing the "Locate Me" button within the MovieGoer mobile application, Sprint subscribers with compatible phones will be alerted to the nearest movie theaters through GPS technology, rather than having to enter their zip code or address.

Hollywood Media Acquires U.K. Movie Theater Site Network CinemasOnline

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 28, 2005 - 10:32am.

Baton Raton, Fla. - Florida-based Hollywood Media, a provider of news and ticketing services for entertainment companies, announced that it has acquired England-based CinemasOnline, a group of advertising and data services companies in the U.K. and Ireland. The cash purchase was for $3.45 million. Hollywood Media estimates that CinemasOnline will have $5 million in revenue and $1.1 million in operating income during the next year. CinemasOnline's business primarily involves maintaining websites for cinemas and live theatres in the U.K. and Ireland. In exchange for managing the websites, CinemasOnline retains the right to sell advertising on the websites.