Strategic Analysis of Movie Exhibition Industry
By: Kim Saline
February 24, 2010
Objective:
To provide an analysis and make recommendations to increase revenue in the movie exhibition industry.
Overview:
Ticket sales for movie theaters are at their lowest point since 1996. With the core demographic group expected to grow slower than the US population and with technological advances growing at speeds faster than the industry can keep up, ticket sales will continue to decline if the current business strategy continues to be followed.
Concession sales and ticket sales are the two biggest sources of revenue for a movie theater. Both continue to increase in cost to the consumers and may have reached a price point that is starting
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They also initiate the contracts with the theaters and negotiate the percentage of box office sales they will receive. Many of the distribution companies are integrating with the production studios because the need for distribution is diminishing with the conversion to digital. This makes these suppliers a strong force.
On the concession side the bargaining power is weak due to economies of scale. Theaters earn most of their profits on concessions so they use their power to reduce their costs from their suppliers.
4. The bargaining power of buyers: The outlook for the target market isn’t favorable for the movie industry because it will not be growing as fast as the overall population. Buyer power is a strong force because of the target market and several other factors including: the undifferentiated product offered, switching to an alternative is simple and low cost, and customers can stay home and watch movies. The consumers are also complaining about concession and ticket costs, along with the advertisements before the film is shown.
5. The threat of substitutes: This is the strongest force of competitive pressure that the movie exhibition industry faces. Not only are they competing among each other but they have to compete with every leisure activity a consumer has to choose from.
Consumers are also investing in home theaters. TV’s are bigger than ever and have digital and 3D capability. As the costs of all the components go down consumers are
EdgeMark Cinemas are a chain of movie theaters located in 37 states with 475 theaters in those states covering the west coast, east coast, and Midwest. EdgeMark’s profits, like other cinemas, have been in a small but constant decline over the last 12 years. Industry Wide Average of 2.05% ticket sales decline per year for the last 12 years also, when adjusted for inflation, revenue has dropped an average of 1% a year for the past 12 years (Domestic Movie Theatrical Market Summary, 2015). The chain is currently looking to increase ticket sales, loyal customers, and profits by adding additional products and services.
In Porter's 5 forces model, the five underlying forces for an industry's structural attractiveness are the barriers to entry for new competitors, the intensity of rivalry among existing competitors, the threat of substitute products or services, the bargaining power of suppliers, and the bargaining power of buyers. In analyzing Blockbuster's business model and current position, it is evident that it faces issues in all five areas.
2. What forces are driving changes in the movie rental industry? Are the combined impacts of these driving forces likely to be favorable or unfavorable in term of their effects on competitive intensity and future industry profitability?
Blockbuster implemented a new strategy for customers to access their rentals in “five channels of distribution: in-store, by mail, through vending machines and kiosks, online, and at home (direct to the TV)” (DATAMONITOR, 2009). However, this strategy was a reactive approach to the problem produced ten years behind schedule. Wooldridge et al., (2007) stated that Blockbuster should select and adapt their strategy to respond to the fast changing market and maintain a competitive position. This was an obvious failure for Blockbuster. The changes in the market produced a decline in profit at a faster pace than the strategies that Blockbuster implemented to combat these losses.
Modern technology isn't disappearing and the need for movie theaters will continuously decline. If movie theater owners take the time to examine several of these options they will certainly find one that functions for them and begin to earn a revenue that is truly theirs.
Revised: August 28, 2002 In April 2001, Matt Heyman, co-founder of Cinemex, the largest chain of movie theaters in Mexico City, looked out the window of his office and pondered the future of his company. In just seven years, Heyman and his partners had nurtured Cinemex from a student idea into the largest theater chain in Mexico City, but they faced new challenges every day. Many of these challenges came from competitors. For years competitors ran old, poorly-maintained theaters, but in recent months they had begun to imitate Cinemex’s top-of-the-line exhibition venues. Their latest tactic: offering two tickets for the price of one on Wednesdays. Heyman wondered whether Cinemex should
4. Din, Yangon. (2007). Titled: The dynamics of the movie industry: Theatrical Exhibitions & DVD rentals. The University of Wisconsin.
The Canadian entertainment industry that is served by Cineplex has been recording sustained growth since 2011 where a growth of 5 percent was recorded. PwC’s Global Entertainment and Media Outlook for 2014-2018 (PWC, 2014) indicate that the industry is set for a take-off. The industry has a
The poor distribution of Australian films has made it difficult for the public to view these said films, due to the lack of theatres screening the actual pictures. This contributes to the community of the Australian public to collectively be unaware of these films and leads to the small number of tickets sold in cinemas. With this lack of money being spent on Australian films, the industry suffers due to with no return going into the
With the advancements in home entertainment systems, consumers are investing thousands of dollars into their own home viewing systems. They have several options to stream video content into the comfort of their own homes. Home entertainment systems have also made a large impact on the theater industry. In 2005, this technological advancement was the most sought after electronic system for new homes. It seems that consumers have finally said no to the rising price of movie tickets and concession stand snacks and beverages.
How strong are the competitive forces in the movie rental marketplace? Do a five-force analysis to support your answer.
The film industry has always been somewhat of a dichotomy. Grounded firmly in both the worlds of art and business the balance of artistic expression and commercialization has been an issue throughout the history of filmmaking. The distinction of these two differing goals and the fact that neither has truly won out over the other in the span of the industry's existence, demonstrates a lot of information about the nature of capitalism.
Looking at where the company is in the market place, the cinema exhibition business segment has reached maturity (Reading International, 2013). Reading International will be looking towards improving their current cinemas to achieve more growth as well as developing niche-type of cinemas in selected markets and also procuring additional properties that contain existing cinemas. The objective behind these strategies is to attract more customers. Currently, Reading International targets several key groups of consumers by running various promotions across each country; school children are targeted with the ‘Early Bird’ promotion, students are targeted with ‘Terrific Tuesday’, working professionals with ‘Friday Flicks’, couples with ‘Steer & Beer’ restaurant ‘combo’ deals, families with ‘Spit the Dummy’, elderly with senior discounts, and general movie enthusiasts can sign up for the ‘Reel Club’. It appears that these consumers have been segmented on the basis of demographic grouping. What Reading International needs to be aware of however, is that there is a whole new generation of consumers that will have an effect upon how Reding International’s customers should be grouped over the next couple of years. This generation is known as the Net-Generation (N-Gen), and should
The competitive forces in the movie rental industry are quite strong, as I will explain through the five forces model. There are a vast amount of substitutes for watching a movie. You can go to a play, sporting event, concert, out the lake/beach, go for a run, watch regular television, go shopping; I could go on and on. Also, torrenting or pirating movies is growing increasingly popular. Buyers have a strong presence in this industry mainly because they are picky about how much they will pay to rent or stream a movie. With the amount of substitutes and their pickiness, they make this
The five forces of competition of the movie rental industry presents little force against a competitor’s market position based on buyer power, supplier power, and new entrant threats. However, threat of substitutes and rivalry among competitors can affect the amount of profits a company will gain and retain.