Theaters are also making money showing commercials now.
There used to be a time- not too long ago- when there were no cmmercials on cable t.v. (this is why you had to pay for cable) with the possible exception of the network promoting their own features in between movies. Now you have to pay some of the highest prices ever for cable (Primestar cost me $65.00 a month before I dropped it. Their premium service could run you well over $100 with all of the movie channels added on) in addition to watching 10 minutes of commercials during a half hour sitcom.
There used to be a time when you got free stuff before the movie at a theater (cartoons, newsreels, etc.) Then we changed to comming attractions- a commercial of sorts. Now we have bald faced advertising. A few nights ago I sat through no less than five commercials before watching What Women Want. And just to find something else to get irritated about, the commercials went 4 or 5 minutes past the advertised starting time of the main attraction (7:30). By the time the previews were over, it was almost 7:50.
That is why I try to see no more than two movies per year at the theaters. Three if there is a Star Wars episode out.
I just know I’m going to be one hell of a crotchety old man when I grow up. :mad:
Pesonally, I think movies are pretty cheap. Four bucks an hour isn’t much compared what you’re spending on other forms of entertainment like concerts, pro sporting events, theater, amusement parks, golfing, skiing, arcades, restaurants, bars. My grandma loses more on her weekly bingo games.
The way I see it, there are many more negatives than positives when going to a movie theater. Consider:
You have to drive there.
You have to be on time.
You have to pay high ticket prices.
You have to pay $4.00 for friggin popcorn.
You have to stand in line.
You have to watch commercials.
You have to put up with inconsiderate people (talking, kicking your chair, etc.).
If you’re short like me, your view is usually blocked by the person in front of you
Etc. Etc. Etc.
So why go? Just wait till the DVD comes out and rent it. Furthermore, you can watch the movie in your underwear while drinking a beer.
In other words, renting a movie is an excellent alternative to going to a movie theater. This alternative keeps demand for movie theaters in-check. Just imagine what the price of a movie ticket would be if we did not have the option to renting a movie!
What everybody said above about the applicability of supply and demand to ticket prices is correct. I’d just like to add the concept of profit maximizing, which is the art of determining what particular price will make the most money for the company. A theater will make more money if it can get fifty people to pay ten bucks a head than if they can get one hundred to pay $4.50. Combine this with market-splitting concepts like discount matinees (for cheapskates who don’t care whether they attend during hours when demand is higher) and child/student/senior discounts (for groups of people who would be less likely to spend their limited resources at higher prices), and you have a pretty efficient scheme for separating the most dollars from the available wallets.
Bingo. As I mentioned in an earlier post which appears to have been ignored, the increase in ticket prices is apparently not demand-driven; which is to say, there is not a situtation in which an increasing number of moviegoers are competing for the same limited number of seats.
The Hollywood Reporter, probably the biggest trade pub next to “Variety,” notes in a front page story today (bolding mine):
“Annual theatrical film boxoffice in the United States posted a new high for the ninth consecutive year, marking the longest expansion in movie business history as revenues for 2000 reached a record $7.67 billion. The new high at the national boxoffice surpassed last year’s $7.45 billion by 3%, and marks only the second time annual grosses have exceeded $7 billion. But while the boxoffice posted a modest gain, admissions slipped for the second consecutive year as roughly 43 million fewer patrons walked into theaters than a year ago. Admissions registered an estimated 1.42 billion, down 3% from last year’s 1.47 billion – the largest drop since 1991, when ticket units were down 4% from the previous year. The increase at the national boxoffice was driven primarily by slightly higher ticket prices.”
I hate to keep hammering on this issue, but in every market the correct price is magically “found” using the law of supply and demand. In fact, given a free market system, there is really no such thing as a “high price” or “low price”; every price is exactly what it should be.
That is exactly what I do. Those bastards have seen the last of my $$$ for the forseable future. I can wait the 6 months (if that) for the video/DVD release to come out. The price isn’t a big issue, I think that $8-12 isn’t bad for an evening out if you don’t buy food. However, the lines, people coughing, annoying children (and/or stupid parents), annoying fucking commercials (I did not pay $10 to watch the retarded pert shampoo guy run around!!!), getting up for the 6th time so the idiot in the middle can go to the can, sticky floors…it never ends.
Our local theater chain lowered the prices of tickets. They then required a search of all customers and would not allow food or drink to be brought in. They raised the prices in the concession stands to make more money.
Just a note to point out that ‘expensive’ is a relative concept. As a Brit, if I want to see the latest hit movie in a decent, central London cinema (movie theater) I will expect to pay about £8.50 per ticket, or about 12.6 dollars. The concession prices are similarly sky-high. Local, regional cinemas are cheaper, but many are of very poor quality indeed.
What most annoys me is when I go to see a movie at a multiplex with loads of screens, and I find that my screen is just a few feet wide - not really much bigger than a decent-sized TV.
<Climbing upon Huge Soapbox>. Not only am I an avid fan of movies, I shoot them for a living. I have for almost 20 years. Going and sitting in a darkened room, with relatively little distraction and a large image and we assume a good sound system, is a singular experience. While the hassles involved in going may seem stupid to some, for many of us, it’s not snobbery to enjoy, to immerse in the experience.
Going to the movies is a large experience. Sitting and watching a DVD is NOT. IMHO
We used to have 3 theaters in town, each independently owned and one was a drive in. They all did a good business for years but then the drive in closed, to be replaced by a small chain theater, which closed several years later.
Then, into town came a multiplex which showed 6 different movies and that was the end of the independents. Why go to old style theaters which show only one movie at a time, or maybe two in a day, when you can go to a brand new place, with surround sound and stay in there all day watching movies – after buying 6 tickets of course?
Once the local theaters went bust, the multiplex upped the prices and kept upping them. You no longer had a choice of theaters to go to in town. Several years later, a bigger multiplex, run by another company arrived, offering 9 movies at once and within a year, it was the only theater in town.
Guess what?
Once it wiped out the smaller multiplex, it started increasing prices and still is.
In the old, privately owned theaters, you could buy a ticket, go in, watch the movie and, if you liked it, watch it again. The owners did not care, but the ushers would ticket check you if you tried to stay to watch a feature change after your movie and have you buy a new ticket or leave. In the multiplex, they’ll shoo you out if you try to watch the same movie all over again. The smaller viewing rooms make it easy to do so.
What’s also gone with the old independents is the balcony. Friends of mine who go to movies in other cities complain that the newer multi-showing theater has made the balcony a thing of the past.
Hold on just a minute. Skyrocketing? Hey, adjusted for inflation I’m not sure that movie prices haven’t actually gone down over the years.
IIRC, in the mid-to-late 60’s, an adult admission was in the $1.50 to $2.00 range. According to this site, that translates into the $8 to $10 range today.
What has clearly increased well beyond inflationary growth is the cost of the soda, the popcorn, etc. Even with the typically larger serving offered (forced) today, it’s still overpriced compared to yesteryear.
Crafter_Man-I don’t know what type of home theater you have setup but I perfer going to see a movie in a theater. Sure there are many movies I’ll wait for on Video but I can’t afford a huge flatscreen TV and since I don’t like movies where the aspect ratio is changed to fit a TV I am stuck with watching letterboxed movies off VHS tapes on my 27 inch TV with the built in Stereo Speakers or using my Computer’s DVD player and watching them on my 17 inch monitor that 5.1 speakers. Given that choice for an action move I’ll pay 8 dollars to see it in the theater.
Cartooniverse I can not agree with you more. I find myself much more engrossed in what I am watching when it is a group experience. I can’t help but wonder if I’ve seen any you have shot. If I have and they gave me good memoories then thank you for doing such good work. If I hated them then why did you make such garbage :rolleyes:
And to everyone who is complaining about people talking during the show I let the Ushers know. There have been many movies that I’ve been to where my enjoyment has been reduced somewhat but I have always been compensated with a free ticket when I complain.
Personally when I go to the theater I count the speakers on the walls and sit in the middle of the row that is in the middle of all the speakers and find that to be the best seat. I don’t have people askimg me to move so they can go to the bathroom and the sound is excellent.
What I don’t understand is why everyone insists that they buy concessions when they go see a movie? Can’t you eat before or after the movie if the prices bother you?
Perhaps this is easier for me because I don’t care much for popcorn.
The only thing I really want is some coffee, which isn’t available in most theaters.
Maybe the trends there are different than they are here, but in Southern Ontario the trend is exactly the opposite. They’re building theatres with bigger and bigger screens, and better and better seating.
All new multiplex theatres - ALL, and they’re still building more - here have massive, near-IMAX-sized screens with seating arranged stadium-style and tiered at 25-30 degrees for minimum obstruction and maximum view. All our new theatres have restaurants and such inside in addition to the usual concession stand, so you can have your coffee and your ice cream, hamburger, tacos, whatever. The new multiplexes here are by far the most comfortable theatres I’ve ever seen.
This trend is so universal and so popular I assumed it was happening everywhere.
RickJay, I have to agree with you. Round here (SE MI) all the new theaters have raked stadium “rocker” seating, THX or Dolby surround, the “panoramic” curved big screens etc. All the bells and whistles… and for an effect driven movie I don’t mind paying for it.
In Massachusetts (where I live), it has come out recently, that the local mafia has been strongarming the local movie productions. for instance, the hugely successful movie (“GOOD WILL HUNTING”) was shot in the Boston area. The Teamsters Union local forced the film crew to hire unnecessary extras, pay for unused rental equipment, and hire local mafia thugs and goons. In one case, a woman who ran a food vending truck was threatened with death (because she had the gall to try to sell her sandwichws on the set of the movie). The local teamsters union boss wanted that concession form a friend of his. So I have no doubt that organized crime still takes a HUGE chunk of money from the movie industry. All of the giant theatre chains are monopolies as well-they fix ticket prices, and since there are no more small “ma and pa” theatres, you pay what they tell you to pay!
