Opry to be partially outsourced overseas
More Mexican, Indian performers on tap
A top-secret, cost-cutting project by Opry parent company Gaylord Entertainment may result in more Opry content being outsourced to Mexico and India, sources say.
"Gaylord is all about the bottom line, and the fact is that entertainers work for less in other areas of the world," says a Music Row source familiar with the plan.
The scheme, code named O3 for Opry Overseas Outsourcing, would result in some segments of the Opry being broadcast from Mexico City or Bombay rather than Nashville. Gaylord is reportedly already scouting theater locations in those cities.
"The idea would be to have theaters in other countries where shows could be going on, and those performances could be patched through during the regular Opry broadcast," the Music Row source says. "In India, that means that the Saturday night Opry will really be going on on Sunday morning local time."
Without confirming any specific plans, a Gaylord spokesman gamely attempted to claim that the effort—if it existed—would really represent nothing new.
"The Opry has already included performances by, for example, Freddy Fender, so having Mexican performers would really be nothing new," he says. "And the phone numbers to purchase Opry tickets have been answered in India for a couple of years now, so there are many people from the subcontinent who are already working for the Opry. I just don't see a story here."
Longtime Opry host Porter Wagoner says it doesn't sound like much fun to sit around while radio listeners enjoy a performance that is being piped in from elsewhere, but he says he's game to do whatever is best for the Opry.
"If I need to learn how to say, 'And now live from the Opry's stage in Bombay, here's Sanjay Nagpur,' I can do it," he says.
(The Fabricator is satire. Don't believe everything you read.)
