Slashdot Mirror
Viewers Who Stream More Also Go To Cinemas More (cnbc.com)
Video streaming services like Netflix and Hulu don't appear to be negatively impacting the box office like many would assume. Michael Pachter, analyst at Wedbush, expects the U.S. box office will grow about 1% to $12 billion this year, setting another record.
"Our takeaway is that Netflix and the expansion of [streaming video on demand] platforms will have minimal impact on box office given the vast supply of content, plenty of which is ideal for theatrical release (and most talent fiercely and contractually objects to a straight-to-streaming release)," Pachter wrote in a research note Monday. CNBC reports: Last year, the domestic box office had a record-breaking year, hauling in $11.9 billion, there was a 5% rise in the number of movie tickets sold, and 263 million people -- 75 percent of the population -- saw at least one movie in theaters. "Everyone has a kitchen, but everyone still goes out to eat," Charles Rivkin, CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, said, quoting Sterling Bagby, the late co-founder of B&B Theatres, during a "State of the Industry" panel last week.
Rivkin said that with each new innovation in the entertainment industry, there has been worry that it will kill the movie industry. Talking pictures, technicolor movies, television, basic cable and smartphones were all seen as disruptors. "And yet we're still here," Rivkin said. "The theatrical and home entertainment sectors both grew strongly in 2018, and that's great news, because we are all part of the growth together," he said.
"Our takeaway is that Netflix and the expansion of [streaming video on demand] platforms will have minimal impact on box office given the vast supply of content, plenty of which is ideal for theatrical release (and most talent fiercely and contractually objects to a straight-to-streaming release)," Pachter wrote in a research note Monday. CNBC reports: Last year, the domestic box office had a record-breaking year, hauling in $11.9 billion, there was a 5% rise in the number of movie tickets sold, and 263 million people -- 75 percent of the population -- saw at least one movie in theaters. "Everyone has a kitchen, but everyone still goes out to eat," Charles Rivkin, CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, said, quoting Sterling Bagby, the late co-founder of B&B Theatres, during a "State of the Industry" panel last week.
Rivkin said that with each new innovation in the entertainment industry, there has been worry that it will kill the movie industry. Talking pictures, technicolor movies, television, basic cable and smartphones were all seen as disruptors. "And yet we're still here," Rivkin said. "The theatrical and home entertainment sectors both grew strongly in 2018, and that's great news, because we are all part of the growth together," he said.
Surely this is down to willingness to pay for content? If they are willing to pay for Netflix I'd assume they are more likely to be willingly pay for cinema tickets.
interesting to read that cinema's aren't doing so bad as they constantly claim.
i read here that; 'The theatrical and home entertainment sectors both grew strongly in 2018'
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
People who go to the cinema more are more likely to stream more content than their non-cinema going peers?
Maybe they just like movies more than other forms of entertainment and are doing more of it, whether it's streaming or cinema
Perhaps those people who stream more, also don't have TV to watch all the time. The time they spend in front of ads is now spend at the movies.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
If I could get movies that are in the cinema at home for a one off fee similar to the price of a movie ticket, I would.
I only go to the cinema when its a big movie and I don't want to stumble into spoilers on the internet before I get a chance to see it, but I'd rather watch it at home if I had that option.
So people who tend to watch a lot of movies..... watch a lot of movies? Next: fat people who eat a lot at home also eat food more often from restaurants.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
It was the same when Napster was on the rise. It actually contributed to grows of titles sales.
The main problem with streaming it is vast access to content produced by low profile publishers.
It creates competition to large title producers like Disney and similar to them, that is why they are so against of streaming.
For me personally, streaming has reduced the times I go to a theater. In my teens I went probably on average a couple times a month. Last year I saw maybe 3 movies in theaters. What's changed? In my opinion the prevalence of streaming has put movie studios in a bind: now that nearly everyone has access to near unlimited amounts of content from their couch, movies have become a much more risk-averse business. Making movies costs a lot and competition is fierce. This has led to studios focusing heavily on franchises and sequels and cinematic universes. There's a reason disney paid a fortune for the Star Wars IP (and already made their investment back): they know SW is a franchise with a huge pre-existing fanbase and they know they can keep pumping these movies out at a rate of about 1 a year and keep raking in the cash. Marvel. DC. Harry Potter franchise being hastily expanded beyond the original series. It's all about risk-management: the studios are asking themselves 'what can we invest XXX million bucks into and be fairly certain that we'll make money?'
This is not to say all that is bad. I enjoy a mindless action-flick or a superhero movie here or there. But this has made it so that the selection of movies available in theaters, at least here in Finland, is pretty narrow. My personal taste in movies is story and character/dialogue driven. If the plot and the writing is good enough, I don't care if the special effects budget has been small. Movies like Coherence and Primer are good examples of how to make thoughtful and entertaining scifi/mystery films with a very limited budget. However these kinds of movies don't make it to the cinemas any more, they're too risky. The movie going public has been conditioned into expecting a 'larger than life' experience on the big screen.
Every once in a while a movie with a wide mass-market appeal hits the theaters that even a cinephile nerd like me can call excellent. Mad Max: Fury Road is a good example of a such a film and in my opinion the best pure action film ever made (because it uses action to actually tell a story beautifully, instead of having tons of crap dialogue that just acts as dressing to get the characters into the next action set-piece, you could cut what little dialogue there is out of the film and it'd still be more world building and immersive than the whole of the Transformers franchise combined), but outside such movies I don't often find myself wanting to go to the theater, because for people like me, the streaming services simply offer a better selection.
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" -Alfred North Whitehead
If box office is up 1% in revenues and inflation is 2.5% then box office is down. Since ticket prices have risen by more than 10% the nunber of butts in seats is down by more than 9%.
The correlation could easily be interpreted to suggest the opposite. Specifically People who go still go to the theaters like movies so much that they also watch more on Netflix too. Exactly the reverse causation for that correlation.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Want to see a new movie? Have to enjoy that theatrical release. :)
Then wait for physical media, streaming.
Streaming to a 4K display would work too. Give people the option
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
This reminds me a bit of the Baen Books approach to ebooks. They found that giving away some or all of the books in a series as ebooks actually increased the sales of the paper copies. Not the exact same situation but perhaps a common phenomenon at work. I will say that recently I have been streaming more and actually went to the theater a few times after avoiding them for years. It helps that the competition pushed the theaters into substantially improving the experience with reserved seats, better chairs, cleaner floors, etc.
This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
> Video streaming services like Netflix and Hulu don't appear to be negatively impacting the box office like many would assume
People who watch movies watch movies. STOP THE PRESSES!
So you've turned into hermits. Congratualtions... Don't go outside, the sun might burn you!!
Fuck Helen Mirren. (Not literally of course.)
I watch movies at home because I can:
* control the overall volume
* can turn the bass up/down
* can turn the center channel up/down
* can pause
* can rewind
* can watch at my convenience instead of being dictated
* can take bathroom breaks
* can get "free" snacks when I want
* can turn captions on/off
* can move my seat closer or further
* always have the best seat in the house
* can use headphones if i want so I don't disturb others in the house
* can use my phone if I want
* can save money
* don't have to robbed paying for overpriced food
* don't have to worry about sticky floors
* don't have to ignore people/kids that won't STFU
* don't have to pay an arm and a leg to watch the latest overpriced crap
* don't have to watch 15+ mins. of bullshit trailers & ads
* don't have to worry about fuel & parking
* don't feel obligated to laugh at crappy jokes because everybody else is
I can wait 6+ months to see the latest Hollywood crap.
There are very few movies that makes the "theater experience" (*) worthwhile.
(*) "Theater experience" to be read in a stuffy, British voice. =P
They just don't go to the movies. That does not imply they don't go outside. There are many ways of going outside without going to the movies. Plus, arguably, if you are afraid to get burnt by the sun, going to the movies is an excellent way of preventing that.
I watch more online, but not in theaters.
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
people who like to watch movies, like to watch movies.