Many will disagree but I think the merger of Loews Cineplex and AMC is a good thing for the future of the movie going public. Near term it means more and more of the same old same old but in the future this will open the door for the smaller creative agile competitors who want to craft compelling moviegoing experiences for movie lovers.

This move creates a single company with 5,900 screens to compete with a company that runs 6,200 screens. While these companies can compete to fill their homogenized theaters and squeeze every revenue stream they can to the detriment of the movie going experience, smaller operators can more easily create a differentiated experience and more effectively lure people away from their computer screens and out of their home theaters.

Why can't movie theater operators understand that they must change or die. People are finding alternatives fast. It's a business of diminishing returns. As they lose a diverse customer base the experience changes and the whole industry enters a downward spiral. Adults are staying away from theaters that are over run with teenagers. Teenagers are spending less time and money on movie going and more on DVDs, video games, cellphones and other gadgets.

The changes in movie theater patronage is fundamentally changing the movie making business that lessons the art and craft of movie making. The ever present quest for the blockbuster profoundly changes moviemaking and effects the choices of new moviemakers. Tomorrows super creative moviemakers may make different career choices in order to avoid the creative restrictions imposed by those searching for the elusive financial blockbuster. Declining audience -->changes in movies -->poorer quality of movies --> more people staying out of movie theaters. The whole industry spirals down.

There is hope. Creative alternative theater operators can craft a compelling moviegoing experience. The key is to understand what business they are in. Theaters that think that they are in the business of pay per view screening of movies will loose. Those that realize that they are in the business of crafting a customer entertainment experience will win.

Loosing theater operators simply do things that serve themselves and generate as much revenue as possible. They give their customers the basic thing they want (to see the movie of their choice) but they also do things in their interest not that of their customers. They inflate concession prices, sell visual and audio advertising and perhaps the greatest miss is in missed opportunities.

To see what this might look like I imagined how a local vintage single screen theater might recast itself as an experience not just a money loosing relic. Read about the Catlow Theater.

Carpe Diem Mark Cuban.

Related:
Mark Cuban Has More Good Ideas
More on DVD Marketing
The Catlow
You Could Pay For What You Get
Anticipation

[read NYT on Theater Chain Merger]

tags: AMC | Loews Cineplex | movies | Theaters
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