Kenneth Feld, chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment, is ready for the showtime when the live production of The Greatest Show on Earth closes in May 2017 due to high costs and declining ticket sales, debuts in fall 2023 and tour 25 cities in North America. But don't expect to see any elephants or tigers under the big top. The circus will be animal free.
We have seen incredible pent-up demand, and it has been extraordinary," Feld told Yahoo Finance Editor-in-Chief Andy Serwer in a recent episode of Influencers. They've been waiting two years to come to see something where they could come as families share the experience. Feld's entertainment empire produces more than 5,000 shows in 75 countries, such as Monster Jam, Disney on Ice and Monster Energy Supercross Championship. Feld said the business was shut down because of the pandemic, like other live entertainment companies. After a rough 2020, the global entertainment and media E&M industry is on the upturn. The E&M industry recorded $2.34 billion in revenue in the last year, a 10.4% increase from 2021, according to PwC's Global E&M OutlookE&M Outlook for. PwC anticipates a strong growth over the next 4 years, and a 4.6% compound growth rate CAGR Feld attributes consumer high demand for live entertainment to people who are pent up for 24 months. I think audience appreciation is more than anything I've ever seen in my life, he said. We missed the actual socialization of what it is to share these live experiences in real-time. Feld believes that there will never be a substitute for live entertainment, even though families consume a lot of entertainment digitally. There is always an emotional level that the audience gets from live entertainment that you don't get on a screen or remotely. Feld said that the company plans to keep ticket prices down because of the skyrocketing inflation. I've been with the business for over 50 years, I've been through a lot of economic cycles but people want entertainment, and they want affordable entertainment, and we can bring it to them. They may forego a long trip, but this is something we bring to them. We're committed to keeping our pricing affordable.