A Review of the History of Live Shows Projected in Movie Theatres - Text 4
In France, after a few brief tests by Gaumont and Pathé in the 1950s and after a few first-run cinemas which were equipped for a brief time for boxing matches[2] or televised ceremonies such as the inauguration of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 and Grace Kelly’s royal wedding in 1956, two attempts at experimenting on a larger scale were carried out in the Massif central region: in 1977 (seven venues and nine public places in five cities) by the Société française de production (SFP) and then in 1983 by Vidéo Transmission International (VTI), which grouped together the SFP, Télédiffusion de France and Postes, télégraphes et téléphones (PTT). Each time, these tests for establishing a pilot tele-transmission network were motivated by the project of a national service, alongside that servicing homes, which would meet cultural needs (engaging provincial audiences with Parisian cultural events) along with educational, institutional and professional needs. The project was ambitious and did not lack political support, but it was fairly costly and presented complex legal, technical and jurisdictional questions at a time when television in France was still a public monopoly. But the inauguration of the first French satellite (Télécom 1) fed the hope of an extensive network of “video-cinemas” (300-400 cinemas) disseminating operas and concerts, but also football games and tennis tournaments, throughout France. In the meantime, large-screen television benefited from the visibility it received from festivals. After the Venice Biennale in 1952, MIPTV (an international marketplace for audiovisual content), during its 1983 edition in Cannes, put on in the Palais des festivals, on a 100 square metre screen, a tele-transmission of Offenbach’s opera La Belle Hélène, directed by Jérôme Savary.
It was only in the 2000s and 2010s that a live transmission market could truly develop. In 2012 a professional association was founded in London, the Event Cinema Association, to promote the live transmission industry on the British and, more broadly, European market. With respect to content, since 2006 the Metropolitan Opera has become one of the most powerful brand names in the industry, producing a dozen “live in HD” transmissions per year for movie theatres. With 1 % to 3 % of global box office receipts, live transmission represents a niche industry, but one which already has its own ecosystem.
