The film market is gradually picking up
You have to pay more for a good seat, do you pay the bill?
Our reporter Ma Jing
With the epidemic under control, more and more consumers re-enter the movie theaters, and the film market is gradually picking up.
However, some careful ticket buyers found that the same movie and the same theater have different prices. If you want to sit in the "golden area" in the middle, you need to pay a higher fee.
A good seat costs up to 25 yuan
"Now theaters are also starting to learn the concert routines and zoning pricing?" Mr. Sun, a citizen, recently purchased movie tickets online and found that the cinema near his home has set up the best viewing area and ordinary viewing area, the most sought-after middle seat The fare is 42 yuan, while the aisle seat fare is 39 yuan.
"In the past, seats were selected on a first-come, first-served basis, but now you have to pay more for a good position." Mr. Sun was puzzled.
The reporter found that some large theaters including Wanda Cinemas, Beijing Yaolai Jackie Chan Cinemas, UME Cinemas and other large theaters have implemented regional pricing. Most of the theaters have two gears, and a small number of them have three gears. Bit.
At the same time, different brands and different stores of the same brand have different price settings.
Specifically, UME Cinema Huaxing IMAX store has the largest fare difference. Most of the movie theaters’ golden areas are 10 yuan more expensive than ordinary areas, and some of the golden areas are 25 yuan more expensive than ordinary areas.
The price difference between the best viewing area of Beijing Yaolai Jackie Chan Studios Linheli Store and the ordinary area is 1 yuan, the fare difference of Lize Store is 3 yuan, the fare difference of Xihongmen Store is 2 yuan, and the Fangshan store is in the same The theater has three gears, for example, the ticket price of a certain movie is set at 47 yuan, 50 yuan, and 52 yuan.
Wanda Cinemas has also adopted regional pricing. The reporters inquired about third-party ticketing platforms and Wanda Cinemas’ self-operated APP and found that Wanda Cinemas has set up two fare stalls, and the golden area is 2 yuan more expensive than the ordinary area.
The staff of the Tongzhou store of Wanda Cinemas said that the on-site ticket purchase has been cancelled in the store, and consumers need to use their mobile phones to book tickets.
However, there are also theaters where the fare zoning is mainly concentrated on third-party ticketing platforms, and a unified fare is implemented for on-site ticket purchase.
"Buying tickets on-site is usually 90 yuan, but the online third-party price is cheaper." said the staff of Beijing Yaolai Jackie Chan Studios Lize Store.
Differentiated fares affect movie-viewing psychology
The fare zoning system has been in the performing arts industry for a long time, but is it reasonable to promote this method of ticket sales in theaters?
Bo Wenxi, vice chairman of the China Enterprise Capital Alliance, believes that fare zoning is similar to airline pricing according to different classes, which can maximize theater seat sales revenue, and audiences bear different fares according to seats in different regions, which is better Paying higher prices for seats does not violate mandatory regulations and industry regulations.
Zhang Wenzhen, assistant vice president of UME Cinema Group, recently publicly responded that the golden seats of cinemas have certain technical requirements. For example, the angle of sight between the audience and the screen cannot be less than 36 degrees, and the elevation angle of the line of sight cannot be greater than 35 degrees. Claim.
Therefore, the theater will set up golden seats in theaters with more than 150 seats, such as giant screen theaters and central halls, and the proportion of golden seats will be 10% to 15%.
Some qualified studios will also set up VIP seats in the golden area, with wider row spacing, which is more comfortable than ordinary seats.
However, there are also movie enthusiasts who believe that a small auditorium with seats that are separated by price will affect people's psychological identity.
"Concerts, musicals, different seating areas will have very different viewing effects, and different prices are acceptable to audiences. Most of the time in the theater, the attendance rate is relatively low, and the difference in viewing effects in different regions is very small. How many people will choose seats? Pay the bill?" Fan Guo Jia said that the film market is highly competitive, and theaters with zoning pricing may face the risk of audience loss.
Attendance rate declines, theaters have limited revenue growth
As a way to increase the income of movie theaters, more and more movie theaters implement regional pricing, which reflects the actual operating pressure faced by movie theaters.
Statistics show that the attendance rate of theaters in my country has been decreasing year by year, from 17.4% in 2015 to 11.1% in 2019.
The outbreak of the epidemic in 2020 will have a further impact on the film market, and some theaters will have considerable pressure to increase revenue.
However, given that the attendance rate is not high, the effect of zoning pricing on the revenue increase of theaters is still very limited.
For example, in a theater with 200 people, there are about 30 golden seats. Based on an 11% attendance rate and a 10 yuan premium for the golden seats, a movie will only add an additional 30 yuan.
"When I watched a movie last weekend, I found that there were only a few people in a movie theater. Even if I bought ordinary seats, I could go to the golden seats to watch the movie." After experiencing the experience, Ms. Gu, a citizen, found that for some non-popular movies, golden seats are difficult to sell Get out.
Zhang Wenzhen also said frankly that, on the whole, the increased revenue from regional pricing will not account for a large proportion of the overall revenue of UME Cinemas.
However, for popular movies with high attendance rates, regional pricing can play a certain role in increasing revenue.
Regarding "whether you are willing to buy a prime location in a movie theater at a high price," some media recently launched a poll on Weibo. More than 1,300 netizens participated in the vote. 51% of netizens said they were "unwilling" and 36% of netizens chose "It's hard to say," It depends on the type of movie and the price gap", only 13% of consumers choose "willing".