The Overwhelming Number Of Ads In Theaters
from the it's-staggering dept
Jeremiah writes "Theater owners are looking increasingly towards ad-revenue to turn a profit. Regal currently has the most theaters with the longest ad-run times. Techdirt has discussed this before and of course, nobody in the suits seems to be capable of listening. Someone today linked to a republish of a 1971 Life Magazine: "And the lack of patterns, of easy generalizations, fills the typical movie executive with existential despair. He finds himself living in a universe of pure chance, exhilarating to some philosophers perhaps, but not to him. Instead, he is filled with enervating dread which he expresses, at least for the moment, in the deepest case of paranoia I've ever observed among producers. They are lashing out at everyone who could possibly be blamed for their failures -- critics, exhibitors, the unions, stars, directors, the goddam recession. Worse, they are filled with a profound desire to do nothing, to wait until some trend emerges so they can once again pretend to be rational merchants making rational judgments on a rational market..."" Not sure where Jeremiah actually got that quote from, but it's an interesting one. It's becoming a vicious cycle. The theaters are losing money because people won't go, so they pump up the ads to make up the revenue -- which makes even fewer people want to go. It's not hard to see how this ends badly.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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indie theaters don't...
jf
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No Subject Given
And they want me to pay $20 to get in the door plus another $20 if I want a coke and popcorn for me and the Mrs.?
I don't think so.
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Theatres...
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Fundamental Change
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Heh
Pirating Movies Off The Internet Could Wind You In Prison.
Heh everytime I see that AD it reminds me of the 246 gigabytes of TS', SVCD, DVD-Rips, and DVD screeners I have on my harddrives.
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The QUote
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fixy the linky
-j
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Thet quote ends
—Richard Schickel, Life magazine, Dec. 31, 1971
Unfortunately the movie business is still staggering on, unreformed, 30+ years later. Rarely is a commentator so utterly wrong.
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The answer is very simple...
No theater owner who truly loves his patrons is going to subject them to 20 minutes of commercials before the movie. Nor will he ask them to pay $4.50 for a tub of popcorn that costs him $0.10 to produce. Nor will he treat them like criminals without any evidence to suspect them of bad behavior.
There's an independent theater in Chapel Hill, NC owned by a guy who truly "gets it" (or at least he did when I lived there). First-run movie tickets were inexpensive, free refills were offered on every beverage (the most expensive, a huge vat of cola, was just $2.00), and he personally introduced every movie before it started (yes, it stood in front of the curtain and welcomed folks and said he hoped they enjoyed the show).
Last I heard, that movie theater was going like gangbusters. So, it IS possible to be successful...you just have to love your customers enough to make decisions they'll appreciate you for.
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If you don't like the ads...
Like a prior poster, I have an adequate TV with a DVD, VCR, and a TIVO. If I want to have a fresh-grilled T-bone and a glass of wine with my movie, it's cheaper than going to a movie house with a sticky floor and eating buttered styrofoam and watered-down whatever-it-is-but-mostly-ice. Plus, if I don't want my eardrums to hurt, I can adjust the volume! If I want to go visit the toilet, I can pause the action, and not miss any!
Really, folks, aren't there more important things to get worked up over?
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Re: If you don't like the ads...
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The sound of no hands clapping
Is it any wonder why movie theaters are rapidly losing business and are in danger of going out of business? If movie theaters want to stay in business, they should concentrate more on making the customer happy instead of the advertisers. They've already lost me, and I used to go to the theater almost every week back in the 90's.
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Theatres
They do it to avoid the ads. I myself do it too.. I mean, who in their right mind wants to pay good money to watch a commercial? Certainly not I.
So.. let them have fifty or a hundred ads, I don't care.. I'll just arrive an hour late if need be to avoid them, as will everyone else. How funny.
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I don't care about the ads.
I spent a while in europe in the early 90s, I watched a bunch of films in Paris, and the listed two times for every movie. One was the time that the pre-show stuff started, and the other was the time that the actual movie started.
I always thought that this was a really nice feature. (They also sold beer and wine in the concession, which didn't hurt) I have never understood why the american cinemas cannot get organized like this. It is a pain when you got to the theater and there is a long line at the ticket booth. I dont like missing the first 5 minutes of a movie. If I know that I'm going to be walking into the theater during Previews, that's fine, but if I'm going to be walking into the middle of the feature, I would rather see a different feature, or not go at all. An unpredictable length of previews means that I can't tell.
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No Subject Given
The operators should be selling Old Style tall boys and Lee Press-On nail kits in the lobby. Sales Rule #1: Know Your Customer!
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No Subject Given
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Cripes
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Re: Cripes
I don't mind previews, I even like them. Let's me plan when I'm going back to the theater. They can even play the 'turn off you electronics' reminders. Just stop with the TV commercials at the theater or I might not come back.
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its the MPAA's fault
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