Movie fans prefer the theater experience

Movie fans prefer the theater experience

	Published : Thu, 08 Mar 2007 00:44 By : Agencies Print this Story

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Never mind the plasma-screen TVs. The theater is still tops with movie fans, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.

In 2006, the majority of film viewers -- 63 percent -- found 'the ultimate movie-watching experience' in theaters, rather than their living rooms, a survey commissioned by the MPAA found. In 2005, 69 percent preferred going out instead of staying home.

Theatergoers gave the nation's box office a much-needed boost in 2006, ending the industry's three-year slump, MPAA chairman Dan Glickman said Tuesday. Ticket sales rose 5.5 percent to finish the year with $9.49 billion in domestic revenues.

'Last year, film audiences around the world demonstrated through strong ticket sales that they love going to the movies,' Glickman said.

While the 1.45 billion movie tickets sold in 2006 is an increase of 3.3 percent over 2005, the figure is still lower than the 2002 total of 1.6 billion.

Global returns soared to an all-time high of $25.8 billion in 2006, up 11 percent from the 2005 total of $23.3 billion.

Technology had a positive impact on movie fans, the survey showed. Those who use DVD players, Netflix, TiVo-type recorders and big-screen TVs were more likely to visit theaters than those who eschew such technologies, Glickman noted. Tech-friendly fans saw an average of 10.5 films last year, compared to an average of 7.1 movie outings for low-tech types, according to the survey.

Film fans also had more to choose from in 2006. A record 607 movies were released last year, up from 549 in 2005.

Also, the survey showed that Internet advertising is on the rise. Movie companies spent 3.7 percent of their advertising budgets on online ads in 2006, compared to 2.6 percent the previous year. The average cost to advertise a film in 2006 was $30.7 million, down from $32.4 million in 2005.

Other MPAA findings:

-- Ticket prices rose to an average of $6.55, up 2.2 percent from 2005.

-- PG- and PG-13-rated films made up 85 percent of the top-grossing releases in 2006.

-- Americans went to movie theaters an average of 7.6 times in 2006, the same figure as in 2005.