Movie Attendance – What is Causing Such a Decline?

COMMENTARY | Movie attendance for the 2011 year was at a 16-year-low, with a 3 percent drop when comparing 2010 to 2011. What caused such a drop? Can a single source be selected?

What caused such a drop in nationwide movie attendance? The economy, perhaps? We can look into history and see that unnecessary expenditures tend to be the first to be dropped when funds get tight. It seems, though, that certain entertainment items such as sporting events and movie visits don’t suffer as badly as other non-essential spending. If the economy is not fully to blame, what is? I don’t believe that there is a single source of blame. Sure, if you have a choice between food to eat, gas in your vehicle, or an hour spent in a movie theater, that seems to be a rather simple decision.

Can we blame the tendency to bombard us with advertisements? Think about it: You spend $15 or more for two to attend a movie and then have to sit through many local advertisements in addition to previews designed to lure you back into another expensive visit. We can be sure that the theater makes quite a bit of revenue from the advertisers. Maybe the movie should be free if you will commit to 15 minutes of advertising exposure. Do you believe that sounds like a fair reimbursement for your time?

Can we blame the current selections available in theaters? With only a 3 percent drop from 2010 figures it would seem that selection is not a major determining factor. For those who prefer a morally applicable story the plot and storyline combinations could definitely be a factor in straying away from the movie theaters. For the rest of society, the majority, the currently offered movies seem to be perfectly acceptable.

Maybe we can blame the ticket prices. When an hour in a movie theater costs more than purchasing a DVD that you can watch as many times as desired, the universe definitely seem out of whack. Yes, this would certainly fit the definition of greed. When everything costs more, maybe the theaters have a justified reason to raise ticket prices. If that rise in price causes closure of your local theater where is the justification?

Overall, we can’t pinpoint a single source for the decline in theater attendance. It would seem to be a combination of all three items mentioned in the title – selection, economics, and greed. We all need to squeeze as much as possible out of every dollar so we become more selective in where our dollars are spent.


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