Lower Movie Theater Prices

Lower Movie Theater Prices

By:


I worked at a movie theater when I was in high school (the 90's) and even back then, I felt that theater prices were way too high. Theaters still seem to be losing touch with their patrons with their constant need to increase prices. However, with more and more 18 and over (it's hard to say that without making them sound like porno theaters) theaters popping up and even beer being served in some locations, I have to give some credit to AMC, Cinemark, Regal and the other major chains for trying to improve people's theater going experience. It's hard for anyone that enjoys seeing new movies or new movie trailers to afford the price of admission.

Places like NYC and LA have outrageous theater prices, but I'm not even going to address those right now. Prices are high even for the Middle America family wanting to see a good movie on a Saturday afternoon. Depending on what time of day you go and how big your family is, you could spend anywhere from $20 to $50 to see a 90 minute movie, one time. Taking your date to a romantic movie costs an arm and a leg nowadays. Studios and theater execs continue to gripe about the rough economy, but they don't seem willing to do anything to lower prices to get more people into the theater. Ticket prices shouldn't be more than $4 or $5, and don't even get me started on the price of concessions.

As is the case with any argument, a half-hearted response to the complaint of high ticket prices is "if you don't like it, don't buy it", but that's not really the point. Going to the theater isn't supposed to be something that only a certain class of people can afford. Movies have traditionally been a cheap, easy way for people of all income levels to "splurge" and have some family time together. It's important for studios and theater companies to understand their audience and to make an effort to retain them.

But the theater isn't the only place studios gauge your pocketbook. If you're of the thrifty sort and you'd rather wait for the film to come to home video, you have to be prepared to shell out up to $30 for it. As more and more people make the switch to Blu-ray, studios are going to have to drop the price of new Blu-rays. We shouldn't be paying $30 for a brand new movie, I don't care how good the picture is. Dropping the average price of a Blu-ray by a measly $5 would do a lot to encourage late bloomers to jump on the Blu-ray bandwagon.

Of course, you can decide you don't want to own movies and you can rent them. Blockbuster will charge you $4.50 to rent a film, which is ridiculous when you can buy a used DVD for $10. You can play the Netflix game and try to watch enough movies in a month to make it cost effective. I don't like this, but I definitely see why so many people do. Personally, I watch all my movies on the weekend, so I end up running out by Saturday afternoon. I would recommend Netflix drop their prices to $10 a month, but with rising shipping costs, I don't know how they make a profit as it is.

Times are tough and Hollywood traditionally isn't affected by a rough economy. However, it doesn't mean that studios and theaters can take advantage of people during their hard times. It's not like their giving us an original movie every time we go to the theater. I don't know where the supply and demand curves meet for the price of movies, but I can guess that lowering prices would increase the volume enough to offset the loss of revenue. I understand that every company has increased expenses, but the rising costs shouldn't affect the movie-going public.

About the Author:
Brad Sturdivant - Founder, Flix66.com

Brad loves a good romantic movie, or just a plain good movie. Captivated by all types of film, he spent four years writing articles for sites before he decided to start Flix66.com.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


Tags: , , , , ,

|

Loading...
Related....
Videos...

Recent UnCategorized Articles

Comments

Still can't find what you are looking for? Search for it!

Loading

Site Navigation:

Copyright 2005-2011 ArticleSnatch, LLC - All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Service.