Grateful Dead show breaks pay-per-view record

The Grateful Dead’s “Fare Thee Well” finale didn’t just set records at Soldier Field — it broke some ground online, too.
More than 175,000 paid live streams have been purchased since the 5-show run began, easily making it the largest online music pay-per-view event of its kind, Mashable has learned. That figure is still growing, as the live stream will be available as video-on-demand through Aug. 5.
That figure does not include cable or satellite pay-per-view purchases, which will boost that number further. The concerts were available on YouTube (the first live-streamed concert there) and some 2,200 unique systems in North America including cable on-demand, the Dish Network, DirecTV, AT&T Uverse, Verizon Fios and Canadian systems.

“We believe it’s already the largest online music pay-per-view event, once all the numbers are in it’ll be the largest music pay-per-view in history,” Nate Parienti, president of Live Alliance, told Mashable.

Though events like Coachella and Bonnaroo have larger viewership overall, those streams are completely free. “Fare Thee Well” prices ranged from $79.95 for the full five-day run (two shows in Santa Clara, California, three in Chicago) on down for individual shows.

Even when figures become final, they won’t come close to representing the number of people who actually saw the concerts.

“A lot of those are parties,” Parienti said. “And with cable as well. I saw lots of pictures of people with projection screens in their backyard, at bars, around the pool. The actual numbers of viewers will be much, much larger.” What’s more, thousands paid to see the broadcast live at movie theaters, music venues and bowling alleys across North America.

Parienti said the production was also the biggest they’ve ever undertaken: There were 18 cameras in Chicago, including one on the blimp that was providing aerial shots of the venue and a camera that was wired to fly over the enormous bowl of Soldier Field. Crews rolled in three days before the events to start setting up full-sized TV trucks, satellite dishes and a dedicated audio truck.

That truck — and the entire live-stream audio feed — was managed exclusively by none other than Dennis “Wiz” Leonard, who started working with the Dead in 1971 and had a major hand in creating their signature live sound and recordings. The forthcoming Blu-rays of the show will feature that sound feed, as well as much of the video from the feed.

Source: http://mashable.com
Image credit: http://www.dead.net