1902 saw the first cinema open its doors in the USA, and what a revelation it turned out to be. The 1940s and 1950s saw a steep popularity change where cinema became the best possible way to enjoy content. From the 1950s until the mid 2010s, cinemas remained a staple in cultures throughout the world.
A nice family outing, the only way to watch a new movie and indispensable in dating and romance. Cinemas have been part of entertainment and recreational culture for more than 5 decades, being a staple of multiple generation’s teenage fun. This has been the case for many years until recently, where questions are being asked about the future of cinema as we know it.
The Pandemic
COVID-19 or the pandemic put massive strain on the cinema industry. With fans the world over not being able to go out and watch a movie, it was obviously a difficult financial time for cinemas. As restrictions started to ease and cinemas were able to open again, it was assumed that people would flood back to cinemas to enjoy a great time out, but that has not been the full story.
Since the return of cinemas, attendance has been down from pre-pandemic numbers. Some blame this on people still rightfully being scared to spend time in public places, but it’s more than just fear. Looking forward, it’s not clear if cinemas will ever return to the popularity they once had.
Streaming Services
Streaming services have been growing at an unbelievable pace since 2007 when Netflix started taking on customers for streaming. Streaming services were never seen as a direct threat to cinema as a lot of industry professionals felt as though there was ample space in the market for streaming services and cinemas to coexist, streaming was only to make video rental obsolete. Online streaming services never stood as a direct competitor to cinemas, and that was the case until the pandemic changed how streaming services operate.
During the pandemic, streaming services saw an obvious lack in the market, as previously, original content from streaming services was never the big budget of cinema grade films. At this point, streaming services really started to push towards the higher budget and quality of content, the likes of which could easily rival cinema offerings. The shift in the quality dynamic may be one of the biggest threats to the cinema industry.
Millennials And Generation Z
It’s no secret that some news outlets seem to enjoy blaming the death of certain industries on upcoming generations, without taking the circumstances into consideration. In the case of cinemas, appeal to younger generations, will ultimately decide their relevance in the future. Post pandemic has seen a relative decrease in these generations’ movie attendance, partly due to fear of a resurgence of covid, and partly due to cost.
Recent studies show that more than 30% of the younger generations avoid going to cinemas as they feel that the cost is just too high. They’d far rather stay home, stream movies or play at Black Lotus online casino.
This cost concern is understandable when you consider that the average single movie ticket costs the same amount as Netflix’s basic monthly fee. We are yet to see if the cost of movie tickets will drop to cater for the new competition in the market and ultimately, the cost will be a large deciding factor if cinemas can stay sustainable in the long run.
