Ted King to head up content for MSG Sphere venues

Madison Square Garden (MSG) Entertainment has announced that 35-year entertainment industry veteran, Ted King, will join the company as president of creative content and studio productions, effective from 22 June.

Prior to MSG, King served as a senior show producer for Paramont and led creative development of projects at Pictures’ Themed Entertainment. He has also served as principal of Ted King Entertainment, which he founded in 2009, and was executive producer at Granaroli Design & Entertainment, which he joined in 2011.

In his role at MSG Entertainment – MSG’s newly separated entertainment business – King will lead MSG Sphere Studios, focusing on developing content for the multi-sensory MSG Sphere venues, the first of which is being built in Las Vegas with another planned for London, pending necessary approvals.

In addition, King will work with MSG Sphere construction and MSG Ventures, the team behind the venue’s state-of-the-art technologies, to develop tools that help to maximise MSG Sphere’s immersive capabilities, which include a fully programmable LED exterior and spatial sound.

He will report to MSG Entertainment’s executive chairman and chief executive officer, James Dolan.

“Ted understands how to build powerful environments, making him ideally suited to help us unlock MSG Sphere’s potential”

“With MSG Sphere, we’re using cutting-edge technology to transform the entertainment venue and construct an entirely new platform,” says Dolan. “As an experiential storyteller, Ted understands how to build powerful environments, making him ideally suited to help us unlock MSG Sphere’s potential and create experiences that truly transport audiences.

“Ted has spent the last year as a consultant on this project, and we are thrilled to make him an official part of our MSG Entertainment family.”

“This is a tremendous opportunity to be part of an exciting vision for the future of entertainment – fully immersive experiences on a grand scale,” adds King. “I am excited to be joining the team and look forward to building on the rich legacy of the Company.”

MSG Sphere Studios, MSG Ventures and other MSG Entertainment employees will use a new, 48,500 square-foot space that MSG Entertainment is opening in Hollywood’s Burbank Studios.

The space will feature a 10,500 square-foot soundstage – originally home to The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson – which is currently being transformed into a full-service studio that includes production, editing, camera testing, and recording space.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.