How home viewing will slowly take over the theatrical cinema experience.
The movie business is always changing and the box office numbers are also affecting in recent years. In the last year, Netflix has been joined by Disney+, Apple+, WarnerMedia, and more. In general, apart from the major blockbusters audiences see in cinema theatres, many people nowadays would understandably have trouble recalling their last cinema experience. To know how it is changing, go through this blog and get to know the rising cultural shift from cinema theatres to home theatres.
Movie attendance around the world has been trending down for the past decade, and in response, theatres mostly decided to increase the ticket price to prop up revenue. The rise in the ticket price, however, is also making movie-goers more selective about the movies they pay to see, which in turn, further contributes to the decline in movie attendance. The box office hasn’t had real growth in more than 20 years on either revenue or tickets sold basis, despite almost a doubling in ticket prices.
Another important factor is the change in movie releasing strategies worldwide in recent years. Catering to an increasingly global market and the higher risks that carries, many film studios focus on big-budget superhero releases, animated movies and sequels of established franchises, with few mid-grade flicks to draw in movie-goers regularly, audiences too are looking elsewhere for entertainment, leaving smaller theatres struggling to stay afloat.
In contrast, home viewing has become more and more accessible over the past two decades, thanks to the advances in home theatre devices and increasing access to content. The rise of Netflix, first as a home DVD rental company and now as the major force in over-the-top streaming services, is a clear illustration of this overarching trend. And now, with industry giants like Viacom and Disney have launched their streaming services, the trend of consumers choosing the comfort of their couches over heading to theatres will only grow.
With the changing lifestyle and people’s standard of living evolving, consumers are ready to create a cinema experience in the comfort of their own homes. People are increasingly getting accustomed to personalisation in all aspects of their life and watching cinemas in a customised and personal home theatre is gradually becoming the trend. To be able to enjoy movies in their space and the ability to make impromptu movie plans without taking into consideration factors such as movie timings, the travel struggle, parking issues, etc is a welcome relief that the populus is buying into more and more. OTT platforms and Blu-ray DVDs offer a high-quality visual experience that translates into a cinema-like experience at the comfort of your home with superb surround sound quality that can be accessed in their leisure time.
Conclusion
To conclude, the theatre experiences still command a captive audience that is becoming increasingly rare and more valuable in an age of multitasking and ad avoidance. Movie-going still holds a special place in culture and arts. But one can’t ignore the modern growth of the digital medium and home entertainment, where access to things has become easy and instantly available to the audiences.
- Date - March 11, 2020