How much does a live ballet broadcast cost?

In this interview with the Metropolitan Opera's general manager Peter Gelb, he states that each broadcast costs $1 million. Many people argue that "If the Royal Ballet can do it and the Bolshoi can do it, why can't [insert name of your local ballet company here] do it?" I think this is a pretty good explanation why not! Not many ballet companies have the name recognition of the Bolshoi, the Royal, or the Metropolitan Opera (with which they would now be competing in the cinemas), and no less famous ballet companies have a million bucks just sloshing around that they could invest in ONE broadcast, let alone several in a season. Ballet blogger Ismene Brown reports the annual budgets of
Bolshoi Theatre: 91.6 million $ Canadian  (2012)
Royal Opera House: 197.42 million $ Canadian (2012)
Paris Opera: 292.61 million $ Canadian

In comparison, the annual budget of the National Ballet of Canada in 2012-13 was approximately $30 million Canadian.

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