The width of an average laptop computer screen is close to 12 inches. The Metropolitan Opera's stage is 57 feet wide. The difference is huge, but the people behind Classicaltv.com are betting $10 million that audiences won't mind downsizing their performing arts experience in exchange for the convenience of instant access.
Classical TV is a for-profit website that seeks to make vast libraries of filmed opera, dance and classical concerts available on your computer -- sort of a Hulu.com for the arts. The streaming site had its soft launch four months ago and has gradually been building its catalog of video offerings, which includes 1,100 full-length performances from such prestigious organizations as the Met, the Salzburg Festival, the Paris Opera Ballet and more. The site usually features about 20% of its total content at any given time.
"Our audience is niche, but it's a big niche," said Chris Hunt, the founder and chief executive officer of the company. "We don't believe in the ballet-and-brie myth. Classical audiences are all ages and eager to go online."
Hunt, 54, is a British television producer who created performing-arts broadcasts at ITV's "South Bank Show." Over the years he has built connections throughout the classical world, which has helped him secure the content partnerships that make Classical TV possible.
The company, which employs about a dozen people and is based out of Bristol, England, doesn't create any original video content. Instead, it licenses existing videos from performing-arts companies around the world. The Met and other partners take a revenue share and sometimes are paid a certain amount in advance on the revenue so they are guaranteed a minimum amount.
A spokesman for the Met said that only its high-definition transmissions have been licensed to Classical TV and that their deal is non-exclusive. The opera company declined to discuss the financial details of the arrangement.
The majority of the videos on Classical TV are free for users to watch, but the site also offers premium content at prices similar to cable video-on-demand and pay-per-view, generally ranging from $4.99 to $9.99 per video for a 72-hour period.
Upcoming pay-per-view streams include "Eugene Onegin" from the Bolshoi Opera, "Giselle" from the Dutch National Ballet and "Thais" from the Met, starring Renee Fleming and Thomas Hampson.
