Can Movie Theaters Still Reel in Advertisers?
The pandemic took a severe toll on the movie theater business, with total screens in the U.S declining by around 3,000 since 2019, to just under 40,000, per Comscore. Indeed, the pandemic has fundamentally changed how audiences consume media, and moviegoing may never return to pre-pandemic levels. Covid-19 was also a culprit for National CineMedia (NCM), which sells ad time around pre-movie content in theaters, and filed for Chapter 11 last April.
However, the company emerged from a voluntary bankruptcy this summer, shedding more than $1 billion in debt. Post-bankruptcy, NCM is launching a suite of products designed to bring in new advertisers and boost its programmatic ad buys. Mike Rosen, chief revenue officer at NCM, insists that despite the headwinds in-cinema advertising remains a viable marketing vehicle for brands and organizations.
Rosen joins host Matthew Schwartz to talk about NCM's new ad services and data tracking, how in-cinema advertising stacks up against linear TV and CTV when it comes to moving the marketing needle, and whether movie theaters are in need or reinvention to stay viable with consumers who have pledged their allegiance to streaming entertainment, watching what they want when they want.
The Champions of Growth Podcast airs Wednesdays at 2PM EST. For more information about the ANA Podcast Network, visit www.ana.net/podcasts.
Source
"Can Movie Theaters Still Reel in Advertisers?" Champions of Growth Podcast, 9/27/23.