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SPOTLIGHT:
The movies

Moviegoers flock to silver screen

Profitable year for theatres

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Tuesday, July 6, 2004

SPOTLIGHT: The movies

Moviegoers flock to silver screen

Albertans most avid

Western Canadians, particularly Albertans, are consistently the nation’s most avid moviegoers.

Per capita attendance in Alberta and British Columbia has been above the national average for at least the past decade.

On average, each Albertan went to the movies 5.0 times last year, each British Columbian, 4.1 times.

This keen interest in Alberta may be the result of high per capita income, a younger age structure and a large number of chain-operated theatres in metropolitan areas.

Attendance in Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Manitoba exceeded the national average for the first time since at least 1997/98.

Led by big gains at multi-screen theatres, attendance nearly doubled in Newfoundland and Labrador to 2.5 times per capita. However, it was again the nation’s lowest.

More Canadians than ever before flocked to the silver screen last year, as mega-movies and mega-theatres outweighed the impact of higher admission prices.

Attendance at movie theatres and drive-ins hit a record 125.7 million in the year ending March 31, 2003. This was the highest level since the late 1950s when television brought a competing entertainment medium into the home.

Admission prices increased 14.9% between 2000/01 and 2002/03.

Attendance was up 5.4% from 2000/01, the last time this survey was conducted. The gain occurred despite 122 theatre closures, which resulted in 284 fewer screens in the country.

The increase probably had something to do with the number of successful blockbusters released during the intervening two years, such as Spider-Man and Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.

Older theatres

But it can also be attributed to restructuring within the industry. Older larger theatres recorded an 11.9% increase in attendance, their first gain in three years.

In addition, 16 larger cinemas – those with operating revenue of $1 million and over – opened, mostly in urban centres. Megaplexes accounted for 43% of all theatres in 2002/03, and 89% of attendance.

Attendance has been generally rising since the early 1990s, but the rate of growth has been decelerating in recent years.

Although attendance was up, the number of seats fell 10.6% during this two-year period, resulting in higher capacity utilization. Theatre occupancy rose from 18% on average to 24%.

Revenues higher

The industry had total revenues of $1.2 billion, up 21.1% from the previous survey period. Admissions accounted for 69% of this total, while the rest came from snack bars.

Cinemas also employed fewer people as a result of theatre closures. The number of full-time staff declined 8.1% to 2,030, and part-time employment fell 20.9% to 15,969.

Drive-in theatres reported a total attendance of 1.5 million, down 10.6%, the seventh consecutive decline. This represented only 1.2% of total theatre attendance in 2002/03.

Ten drive-ins closed during the two-year period, and operating profits of drive-ins fell 3.5% to $1.6 million.

For more information, contact Norman Verma (613-951-6863), Culture Subdivision.

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See also
Profitable year for theatres THE DAILY – Movie theatres and drive-ins

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Date modified: 2004-07-06	Important Notices