Decline
of the Movies
Are Theaters Going Extinct?
By Daniel Muniz
Prior to the mass production of television sets, around 60
percent of the population attended a movie each week. With the
advent of cable TV, VCRs, DVDs, pay-per-view, and fragmented viewing
audiences, that attendance rate is now a staggering 9 percent.
Are movie theaters going extinct?
It is no secret that movie attendance has
dramatically gone down even with the releases of periodic
blockbusters like Star Wars - Episode III. Unfortunately,
blockbusters are becoming fewer and further in between.
And worse, the so-called video window, the time between a movie
release and its subsequent video release, continues to shrink down
to a scant three to four month time period. Any more shrinkage and
what is left of moviegoers are going to wonder if there really is
any need to go a theater at all since a movie’s availability is no
longer restricted to the movie house (a few movies are already
experimenting with that).
But most importantly, watching television at home has
dramatically changed.
Home theaters have come a long way since black and white
television sets. High
definition TVs with large screens, digital surround
sound that can be enjoyed with the creature comforts of home. In
fact, what will happen when all movie releases occurs not only for a
theater but also simultaneously for DVD and pay-per-view?
In fact, it is hard to say that any single
factor is solely responsible for this gradual decline since so many
elements are simultaneously involved.
Television itself is the cheapest form of
entertainment. And today, it has also become one of the most
sophisticated forms of entertainment. I am old enough to remember
the days of black and white television sets with a huge knob to turn
the channels. The knob didn’t have to be too big because only the
major network stations were available and cable was still not widespread
into every house as it is today.
From both ends, home entertainment and the
shrinking video window, movie houses are getting squeezed out of
business.
But is it a bad thing?
Movies themselves have changed. Until the
sixties, an entire family could enjoy a movie together at a theater. Even
until the seventies, an entire family could still enjoy a fairly
good
selection of flicks. Now, with extremely rare exceptions like Star
Wars, a family movie today is restricted to silly kid’s movies. And with
cable television, audiences are even more fragmented in their
viewing tastes.
And besides, as an adult going to a movie
complex on a weekend, I quickly discovered that I am merely a grain
of sand in an ocean of teenagers who have their own MPAA movie
rating. And self-absorbed teen movies just don't cut it for most
adults.
But I personally don’t find the demise of the movie theater
industry as a bad thing.
It has been long noted that theater chains make their money off
of concessions like popcorn. A drop of 6 percent of moviegoers in
2000-2001 prompted most theaters into the dreaded bankruptcy
mindset. If theaters want to survive, they now must find niche
markets instead of marketing themselves to the mass mind.
And some niches have already emerged.
A few movie houses now serve food and beer. Even drive-ins are
experiencing a limited resurgence.
There is a drive-in that my wife and I still go to. Most people
who go there bring their own barbecue grills, ice chests full of
beer, and lawn chairs. During winter, I have even seen people bring
huge metal barrels to light bonfires. And on occasion, they
may even watch a bit of the movie.
Overall, I truly suspect that the home theater will dominate as
the primary option to see the latest movie.
Even with fewer kids per household, today’s nuclear family has a
bigger house with substantially more square footage (if not with a
smaller yard). With almost theater-like quality, enjoying a movie in
a room solely devoted to home entertainment in your own house cuts
out the cumbersome middleman of the movie complex. Unless getting
out of the house is actually the real need to watch a movie.
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