Don't be afraid of DVD
Movie-goers The movie industry is not afraid of the permitted parallel imports of DVDs.
Moviegoers The cinema industry has no fear of the permitted parallel imports of DVDs, even though the official moviegoer statistics for 2003 will not be published until the end of February: A decline in the order of 1.8 million compared to the record year 2002 with 18.8 million visitors is practically certain. This is confirmed by René Gerber, Managing Director of ProCinema, the umbrella organization of the cinema and distribution industry. These figures include the open-air festivals, which boomed last year, and the decline is not surprising
While the NZZ am Sonntag (NZZaS) of February 8 linked the decline to the enormous increase in DVD sales and predicted further declines - in particular due to the parallel DVD imports that will be permitted in the future - the cinema industry itself has a more relaxed view of last year's decline. "The fact that last year did not match the record set in 2002 is neither surprising nor worrying in view of the hot summer and the range of films on offer," says Cinecom Managing Director Matthias Luchsinger. "With James Bond, Lord of the Rings, Spiderman and Harry Potter, 2002 simply had more cinema highlights to offer than 2003."
Growth expected
Gerber from ProCinema cites another reason: Cinema sales are recorded on a weekly basis. This means that a cinema year does not necessarily last from January 1 to December 31. For this reason, the 2002 cinema year had 53 recording weeks instead of the usual 52, which is relevant because a particularly large number of visitors - up to one million, according to Gerber - are counted in the New Year's Eve week. "If we were to deduct 500,000 visitors in 2002 and allocate them to 2001 or 2003, the statistics would look completely different," says Gerber. He therefore warned against comparing the development only with the previous year. There had already been a 10 percent drop in 1992, and yet visitor numbers had risen steadily (see graph). Luchsinger agrees, and expects another increase of five to six percent this year.
Nevertheless, the question remains as to the impact of future parallel imports. Gerber believes this will be minimal, as the cinema and film industry has agreed with retailers that DVDs of new cinema films will only be released some time after the theatrical release. Luchsinger is also confident: "The advertising for a film starts with its theatrical release, not with the parallel import." That's why the following still applies: "A movie that flops in the cinema won't work on DVD either." Moreover, cinema is a communal experience that cannot be imitated at home.
Cinema becomes cheaperThe takeover of Mediavision Switzerland by Cinecom makes the medium of cinema cheaper. There will be no price changes in German-speaking Switzerland, but prices will be 4.3% lower in French-speaking Switzerland. This also applies to bookings throughout Switzerland and when booking pools in French-speaking Switzerland. The existing Cinecom pools will remain in place, but have been supplemented with the corresponding Mediavision cinemas. Handling will be easier for national and local customers, as they will be able to book their film and slide campaigns in 475 Swiss cinemas via
customers will have a single point of contact with standardized prices. Mediapresse Pub SA, Mediavision's previous marketer, will manage the entire Swiss Cinecom portfolio for customers in French-speaking Switzerland. National orders already booked that extend beyond February 16 will be recalculated by Cinecom. (mk)
DVDs can't make up for the shared movie theater feeling.
Markus Knöpfli
While the NZZ am Sonntag (NZZaS) of February 8 linked the decline to the enormous increase in DVD sales and predicted further declines - in particular due to the parallel DVD imports that will be permitted in the future - the cinema industry itself has a more relaxed view of last year's decline. "The fact that last year did not match the record set in 2002 is neither surprising nor worrying in view of the hot summer and the range of films on offer," says Cinecom Managing Director Matthias Luchsinger. "With James Bond, Lord of the Rings, Spiderman and Harry Potter, 2002 simply had more cinema highlights to offer than 2003."
Growth expected
Gerber from ProCinema cites another reason: Cinema sales are recorded on a weekly basis. This means that a cinema year does not necessarily last from January 1 to December 31. For this reason, the 2002 cinema year had 53 recording weeks instead of the usual 52, which is relevant because a particularly large number of visitors - up to one million, according to Gerber - are counted in the New Year's Eve week. "If we were to deduct 500,000 visitors in 2002 and allocate them to 2001 or 2003, the statistics would look completely different," says Gerber. He therefore warned against comparing the development only with the previous year. There had already been a 10 percent drop in 1992, and yet visitor numbers had risen steadily (see graph). Luchsinger agrees, and expects another increase of five to six percent this year.
Nevertheless, the question remains as to the impact of future parallel imports. Gerber believes this will be minimal, as the cinema and film industry has agreed with retailers that DVDs of new cinema films will only be released some time after the theatrical release. Luchsinger is also confident: "The advertising for a film starts with its theatrical release, not with the parallel import." That's why the following still applies: "A movie that flops in the cinema won't work on DVD either." Moreover, cinema is a communal experience that cannot be imitated at home.
Cinema becomes cheaperThe takeover of Mediavision Switzerland by Cinecom makes the medium of cinema cheaper. There will be no price changes in German-speaking Switzerland, but prices will be 4.3% lower in French-speaking Switzerland. This also applies to bookings throughout Switzerland and when booking pools in French-speaking Switzerland. The existing Cinecom pools will remain in place, but have been supplemented with the corresponding Mediavision cinemas. Handling will be easier for national and local customers, as they will be able to book their film and slide campaigns in 475 Swiss cinemas via
customers will have a single point of contact with standardized prices. Mediapresse Pub SA, Mediavision's previous marketer, will manage the entire Swiss Cinecom portfolio for customers in French-speaking Switzerland. National orders already booked that extend beyond February 16 will be recalculated by Cinecom. (mk)
DVDs can't make up for the shared movie theater feeling.
Markus Knöpfli
