EXHIBITION

Interesting facts and stats Profits at Odeon Cinemas fell by more than half as  it filled 4m seats last year and the company was sold to the Chinese property and media giant Dalian Wanda. The cinema chain posted full-year profits before tax of £9.9m for 2016, compared to £21.6m in the previous year, according to accounts filed at Companies House.  Turnover increased by £2m to £220m. The results came as the company’s attendance figures fell from 172m in 2015 to 168m, and it warned of the risk of “an increase in the availability of pirated films”. Odeon also embarked on a heavy investment plan, ploughing more than £25m into additional sites and maintenance of its estate. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/07/02/profits-plunge-odeon-audience-numbers-fall/amp/ https://www.statista.com/topics/3493/media-piracy/ http://uk.businessinsider.com/illegal-streaming-is-dominating-online-piracy-2016-8 https://www.dga.org/craft/dgaq/all-articles/1001-spring-2010/internet-issues-piracy-statistics.aspx

How has digital technology changed viewing habits of audiences in the film industry? Streaming websites made up 73.7% of 78.5 billion visits to access pirated film and TV content last year. These are websites that illegally host streams to full movies or television shows, and generate revenue from ads.  Torrent-based sites represented a mere 17.2% of total visits to piracy sites, and direct-download sites making up the remainng 0.01%. Visits to torrent sites declined 19% in the second half of 2015 compared to the first six months of the year. 

How do cinema chains make money? Main types of employer to use zero hour contracts Younger staff = cheaper 20% revenue spent on staff Digital projectors cost £85,000 per screen to install – bad for independents Economies of scale – rent more films (40-60% spend) to cut costs ‘premium services’ – luxury seating, food service