CinemaBUZZ Weekly Report - 22 February 2013

Popcorn People - Who Are They?

According to a study released last week by the Nielsen Company's National Research Group's 2012 Report on American Moviegoing ,70% of Americans over the age of 12 reported viewing one or more movies at a cinema in the last 12 months.

Overall attendance in 2012 to new released movies was 6.8 movies per-capita.

People between ages 25 and 54 accounted for 52% of cinema admissions; while 12 to 24 year olds represented 30% of the box office gross. Older moviegoers - 55 to 74 accounted for 18% of ticket sales.  Hispanics had the highest per-capita attendance. Representing 18% of the population, Hispanics accounted for 25% of total movie attendance.

Who Are The BEST Moviegoers

Believe it or not, tablet and smartphone owners are more likely to attend movies and spend more on movie entertainment than the average American.

According to the Nielsen data, mobile-connected moviegoers are more engaged in the overall moviegoing experience as smartphone owners attend 9% more movies than the average and tablet owners, a whopping, 20%, more than the average moviegoer.

Tablet owners went to the cinema an average of 47 times in 2012 - 10 more than the average moviegoer and were 27% more likely than non-connected moviegoers to view a movie more than once at a cinema.

What Are Moviegoers Viewing?

30% of moviegoers stated that their decision to attend certain movies was affected by comments about those films in their social networks. 51% of moviegoers 18 to 24 also texted and/or tweeted their peers right after viewing a movie. 

Viewing previews was the most frequently cited source for online movie information. "Film-makers still have the ability to substantially shape the messages that audiences are seeing and hearing about their movies," states Kathy Benjamin, SVP with Neilsen. "As mobile connectivity continues to increase, they'll want to take advantage of the great avenue that social networks offer to connect directly with potential moviegoers."

This is all good news for movie exhibitors, as long as Hollywood keeps producing the movies audiences want to view. For their part, cinemas must continue to offer a great presentation and moviegoing experience and the folks will keep coming back.

Best
Jim Lavorato