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MoviePass Adds a Million Subscribers, Even if Theaters Aren't Sold on It (nytimes.com)
From a report: As streaming services like Netflix and Hulu surge in popularity, movie theaters have been trying to compete by rethinking the concession counter and installing seats that resemble beds. Yet attendance was flat at North American cinemas in 2016, and analysts are predicting a 4 percent decline in 2017, bringing ticket sales to a 22-year low. Perhaps something more radical is necessary. Mitch Lowe, a Netflix co-founder, certainly thought so when he took over a ticketing firm called MoviePass in June 2016. By August of this year, when MoviePass introduced a cut-rate, subscription-based plan -- go to the movies 365 times a year for $9.95 a month -- Mr. Lowe had been declared an enemy of the state. "Not welcome here," AMC Entertainment, the largest multiplex operator in North America, said in an indignant August news release that threatened legal action. It may be time to get on board: MoviePass said this month that it had signed up more than one million subscribers in just four months (Editor's note: the link may be paywalled; alternative source). It took Netflix more than three years to reach that level when it started selling low-priced subscriptions for DVD rentals in 1999. Spotify was relatively quick, at five months in 2011. It took Hulu 10 months to reach one million later that year. "We're actually shocked," Mr. Lowe said. "We seem to have hit a nerve in America."
From the theaters perspective, it's just a debt card. They get the full ticket price. What people should be asking is how MovePass plans on even breaking even, much less making any money. It seems like they're doing the "I'll sell you this crummy quarter for that shiny dime" thing...
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
What's really insane is the theaters not realizing small income from tickets will likely translate to people spending more at concessions. So they're turning their noses up at more customers spending more money they actually get to keep versus the current shrinking ticket sales and concessions.
MoviePass issues you a debit card. You use the debit card to buy a ticket. They can't refuse the card without violating their agreement with MasterCard. In my area, not one theatre has an arrangement for direct electronic payment with MoviePass, so I always use it as a debit card.
Yet attendance was flat at North American cinemas in 2016, and analysts are predicting a 4 percent decline in 2017, bringing ticket sales to a 22-year low. Perhaps something more radical is necessary.
How about good movies - that aren't reboot #13 of some long worn out franchise that you are squeezing for every last penny, licensing fee and take-down notice you can wring out of it?
Silence is a state of mime.
I don't get it either.
1). The movie theater "experience" still sucks - mostly due to the audience. Loud sound systems and small screens don't help. If they don't fix that, even going to the movies for FREE isn't much of a value proposition as far as I am concerned.
2). The content itself largely sucks. There's only maybe a maximum of 3 movies/year I want to see anyway. This year I saw three, and only TWO of those three I liked (++ to Planet of the Apes and Rouge One, -- to The Last Jedi). There is no way there is enough interesting content for me to go 365 times/year, or even once per month. Once again, if they don't fix that, even going to the movies for FREE isn't much of a value proposition as far as I am concerned.
3). I don't even bother going to the movies anymore unless I can get reserved seats where I want to be (not well-supported by MoviePass) - AND I tend to buy my tickets (on Fandango) LONG ahead of time too. MoviePass can only be used to buy same-day tickets. So, fuck that.
4). Apparently, can only be used to buy one ticket. So if you go with your wife, you both have to have MoviePass, and do two separate purchases...so you may or may not be able to get two reserved seats next to each other....in addition to having to do everything twice. So once again, fuck that.
Final analysis: for me, this is a completely useless product...even if it were available for free.
Saw Star Wars 8 in widescreen 3d opening weekend in a theatre with 20 people. If that can't put butts in the seats...
On the other hand I dropped $100 for four people with tickets and popcorn, so maybe they only want us to visit once a year - just that empty seat showing could have netted them $2k.
We have something similar in France. It's about 20 euros per month to get a card that let's you go to the cinema as many times as you want. There's also a 30 euros one for the card holder and a friend (works great for couples).
Since they started doing that, they fill all the screenings, sell so much more popcorn that they never really considered removing them. It is worth it for them!
I'm surprised by the low price though, how do they manage with less than $10 per month? From experience, going to the theater once always costed more!
The subtle difference, is that in France (and somewhat in other countries such as Switzerland) a substantial part of the movie theater are own by corporations such as Pathe / Guamont. which are also movie studios and movie distributor (i.e.: the whole thing is a lot more vertically integrated).
Meaning it's much more easy for them to negociate the price of the movie ticket, because they are also the distributor of the movie.
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