Challenge for US Movie Industry
June 16 2006
Nielsen Analytics and the Movie Advisory Board have this week released 'The Modern Movie Experience', a new study that explores how shifting consumer behaviour and digital technologies in the USA are affecting the theatrical film business.
The Movie Advisory Board is a joint initiative between Nielsen Entertainment and MovieTickets.com. The analysis was based on a survey of more than 2,500 moviegoers across the USA. It concluded that, while recent declines in motion picture attendance are due largely to a perceived disconnect between the price moviegoers pay, both in money and time, and the value they derive, an equally important challenge to the movie industry comes from new forms of digital distribution.
Key findings include:
- Despite concerns about the potential for new technologies to disrupt traditional business models, the primary reasons given by respondents for the drop in movie attendance all relate to a new decision-making equation. Paying attendees assess movie quality, price and the cost of their time as they decide whether to see a movie outside of the home.
- The more avid a moviegoer, the less of an impact experimentation with non-theatrical distribution platforms has on movie going; and conversely, the lighter the moviegoer the greater the impact.
- Moviegoers who attend films in a traditional cinema setting more than five times a year were less likely to have downloaded, rented or bought a DVD or VOD than lighter moviegoers.
- However, moviegoers who attend films in a traditional cinema setting more than five times a year rent more DVDs on an annual basis than lighter moviegoers.
According to Larry Gerbrandt, general manager and SVP of Nielsen Analytics, 'Although the ebbs and flows in the fortunes of the movie business are nothing new, the forces currently buffeting the industry are raising fears of a fundamental and lasting sea change. By focusing our research on the 'Über-Media Consumer' - or those at the forefront of change in media and entertainment consumption who are uniquely faced with abundant choice - we aim to provide new insights into where such change may lead the media industry, as well as how the industry can best respond and adapt.'
'The shared experience of movies is starting to feel anachronistic with increasing abundance of choice and control,' added Adrienne Becker, GM of Nielsen Entertainment's Strategic Development Group. 'But as the motion picture industry turns to digital distribution, all players have an interest in identifying and developing the levers of sustainability for that shared experience. This analysis focuses on some areas which need to be re-calibrated, and at the same time, highlights the point that elements of community - such as the theatrical experience - will not go away; but we will have to work at it.'
The survey was completed by 2,687 members of the Movie Advisory Board (MAB) between February and March 2006. The MAB is a moviegoer community comprised of consumers who either buy movie tickets online or who search for movie information online, formed from a partnership between Nielsen Entertainment and MovieTickets.com.
Nielsen Analytics and Nielsen Entertainment are both part of VNU, on the web at
www.vnu.com .
All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.
