But during that time they were showing a whole program of films - an A picture, a B picture, cartoons and a newsreel. And you could stay and watch it as many times as you wished on that day. So it’s not as if they charged .25 for the B picture and .50 for the A.
Not according to the Planet Money guys.
Last time I went, I can get in to a first run matinee here in OKC for about $4.50
Drinks, tho, are $4.50 or $5.50, Popcorn is $6 or $8, and candies are $4.50
They have a package deal where I can buy a med drink and med popcorn and candy for only $15.00. Funny, huh?
This is distorted.
B movies tended to play smaller theaters and chains, and “off” slots like weekdays and weekend mornings, and were cheaper because of that. If they ran in major houses or prime times, they cost the same as any A-lister.
I wasn’t there but it seemed to me that they were suggesting that studios purposefully channeled A movies to certain theaters and B movies to others.
They interview a current theater owner who says that even now if you piss off the studio/distributor, they can retaliate by not sending you any blockbusters.
Note that one consequence of variable ticket prices based on movie cost/popularity is that it would create a huge headache for theater owners. People would buy a ticket for the cheap movie and try to sneak into the expensive movie. Tickets would have to be checked at the doors continuously. Go out to hit the can or buy some popcorn? Better have your ticket stub on you.
That adds a lot of personnel to the cost of the theater. And trimming the number of employees is a major drive in the business.
With uniform prices, the theater doesn’t care that much as to which movie you actually go see unless it’s filled up. And most of the time what incentive does a customer have to buy a ticket for one movie and see another?
One current battle between distributors and chains are movies that are released in theaters and VOD at the same time. The theaters hate that. Veronica Mars only got into a significant number of theaters because they actually rented the screens outright. But this is a growing trend, the distributors are setting off warning shots letting the chains know that this is going to happen.
It’s a form of price discrimination. Really a fan of the movie? Then pay full price at the theater. Sort of a fan? Then pay a few bucks for VOD. But the marketing campaign caters to both. Saving on marketing is something they’re really trying to figure out.
I know other people have addressed this too… but I don’t agree with you that this is somehow unique to the movie industry.
Go into the grocery store and tell me when tomatoes are cheapest. Now, when are they best? It’s at the same time, right? When they’re ripe locally. So in the produce market, we’re actually used to paying more for inferior items and less for the best ones.
Most books, newspapers, magazines and DVDs are priced equivalently to other publications of the same type. In fact, if there are any priced higher than usual, they’re often the self-published items where the author/publisher pays a higher cost per unit. We didn’t pay extra for Lord of The Rings just because it was three hours long (we paid extra because they felt like including a dozen bonus DVDs). Meanwhile, my copy of The Gamers actually cost me more, despite being made on a shoestring indie budget, running half the length and being a clearly inferior movie.
Anyway, it ultimately comes back to the fact that theaters have a simpler business model with flat-rate pricing and that the flat-rate pricing more or less reflects their costs to acquire and show the film.
I don’t know if actual ‘dollar cinemas’ exist anymore like they did when I was in my teens. Back then it was actually a dollar to see a film. Now they are $2-3 (and occasionally have deals like $1.50 on a certain day).
But the cheap theaters are basically the same as the ones that charge $7-12 a movie, the only difference is the movies are a few months older. A brand new movie may cost $10 to see but in 3-6 months a cheap theater will have it for $2-3.
They probably don’t lower the prices because most people are fine with that price, and like someone else said, what are the alternatives to watching a brand new film on the big screen? I myself don’t have a problem with the price of tickets since I only go when there’s something that really interests me.
The food and beverage prices are what upsets me. Popcorn price I don’t mind so much because it seems theater popcorn is usually the best. But a small bottle of water for around $5 is really. If there’s no sign prohibiting it, I just bring my own beverage.
I save money on 3D movies by the negative reinforcement of them giving me headaches.
I know sporting events and live shows have variable pricing based on the location of the seats, but do they have it based on how many seats are filled (primary market, not secondary market)? Do they discount tickets at the last moment just to fill seats? For sports that have both weekday and weekend games, do they charge more for the weekend. My experience is no, but I’m only somewhat familiar with one market. (Honest question, not snark).
Yes. They do all these things. Go to Times Square. There’s a booth where you can watch ticket prices plummet for unsold seats just before show time.
As for your sports questions yes they take into account the opposing team, the standings, the number seats remaining, the time left before game time, prices on resale markets, everything. Listen to the podcast link I offered. It’s all there.
If a book isn’t selling they certainly do cut the price and put it on the discount rack. And similarly for the other examples.
We’re very fortunate to have a neighborhood theater that’s run as a family business. Tickets are $5.00 and the movies are first-run. I’m one of those people who don’t care if I see a movie on the big screen or when it’s new, so we rarely go to a theater downtown, as the prices are outrageous. But then I’m one of those cranky old geezers who paid 15 cents for a movie as a kid. ::shakes fist at Century::
Are you confusing primary and secondary markets? Again, I’m most familiar with my local major sports teams, and I don’t know how other markets do things. But the seats will have the same face value for every game. Whether the Yankees are playing Boston or Cleveland, whether its a Saturday day game or a Tuesday day game, that seat in section 356 will be $55. On the secondary market, the Saturday Boston ticket might command a high price because its a big rivalry on a premium day that is likely sold out, and you might find the Tuesday Cleveland ticket below face because a season ticket holder is looking to recoup whatever he can for a ticket he’s not using on a day when there will be plenty of seats available, but the NY Yankees charge the same price for either seat.
I’m quite familiar with TKTS (I’m a NYC resident). That certainly takes into account demand as the hottest shows are also the hardest to get discounts (though even they release some tickets to the discount service, not because they couldn’t sell them but simply to let more people who couldn’t afford full face into the theater).
Listen to the podcast. They interview a guy in the sports pricing business who helps set prices for the primary market. They specifically note that pricing in the secondary market is taken into account as one of the many factors for pricing in the primary market.
having been to the movies in a long time but I am hearing between the cost of the tickets and popcorn and candy, if a guy was to take a woman on a date he would be spending close to $50
That sounds crazy
For our local MLB team, the visitors are price-rated. Mainly by expanding or shrinking the zones of cheaper and mid-price tickets. Yankees coming to town? The really cheap seat section goes away entirely. Our favorite section jumps up a level in price. Astros? Go see an MLB game from a crappy seat for practically nothing.
The schedule is color coded to let you know which games are going to cost more for the same seats.
Ditto mini-season passes. You can get 5 games against good opponents or 10 against crappy ones for the same price.
And don’t get me started on bobble-head night.
Maybe the Yankees still do it that way, but the Mets don’t anymore. I have a 20 game plan, so I always have the same seats. The price depends on who they’re playing, day or night, weekday or weekend, and probably even the month. Since they began letting you choose your own games, there’s not even a set price for a partial season plan- it depends on which games you chose. Here are the prices for some used tickets I have laying around, all for the same seat:
5/14 vs Yankees Wed night $52
5/11 vs Phillies Sun afternoon $33
4/27 vs Marlins Sun afternoon $27
7/6 vs Rangers Sun afternoon $42
and they often run “buy one get one free” promotions for less popular games in addition to “dynamic pricing”
Jeez! I let my Yankee plan lapse when they moved my great seats in the old stadium to shitty seats in the new and asked me to pay dearly for the privilege, but every ticket was always the same face value. I hope the plan to keep fleecing the consumer works for any team that does that. Every time I watch or attend a Yankee game, I see large swaths of empty seats, even on weekend games.
I need to check the Islanders next, but as they have problems giving tickets away, it might come down to how much they are willing to pay you to attend one of their matches.