The cinema business plays hardcore on its own behalf
Movie Theaters: Largely unnoticed by the public, Pathé Suisse transformed itself within six years from a one-man company into Switzerland's largest movie theater chain.
Cinema Hardly noticed by the public, Pathé Suisse grew from a one-man company to the largest Swiss cinema chain within six years When the Australian cinema chain Village Roadshow withdrew from Switzerland in 2000 and sold the largest multiplex cinema in Switzerland, Balexert in Geneva (13 screens, 2,900 seats), to the newly founded company Pathé Suisse, hardly anyone paid any attention. Pathé Suisse, an offshoot of the French cinema operator Pathé, and its CEO Grégoire Schnegg were only noticed by a wider public in 2004, when the cinema operator opened its second multiplex in Zurich-Dietlikon (10 screens, 2500 seats), making it the third largest player in the industry in terms of seating capacity - after Kitag and Europlex. However, when Pathé announced the takeover of Europlex in May 2006, little notice was taken of it.
This is actually astonishing, as Pathé has become the largest Swiss cinema operator in terms of seats and audience market share - and this only shortly after the previous market leader Kitag took over the Dietrich Group with the Zurich multiplex Cinemax/ Abaton (12 screens, 2,350 seats) in 2005 and significantly extended its lead.
Power play in French-speaking SwitzerlandThanks to the Europlex takeover, Pathé now has a third multiplex, the Flon in Lausanne (7 screens, 1900 seats), as well as three so-called multisalles in Geneva and Lausanne. Multisalles are large cinemas with three to eight screens, but without integrated stores or restaurants as is the case with multiplexes. Pathé is also taking over three Europlex single-screen cinemas, but will dispose of these as soon as possible because the company is concentrating on large cinemas.
Pathé will open its fourth multiplex with 8 screens and 2,400 seats in Basel's Steinenvorstadt entertainment district in October. There, Grégoire Schnegg will also enter into a partnership with two neighboring cinema operators, so that eleven screens can ultimately be coordinated with each other in terms of programming at the Rheinknie.
From the fall, Pathé will therefore be present in four key cities, with the company achieving market shares of 70 to 80 percent in Geneva and Lausanne and around 50 percent in Basel. Grégoire Schnegg looks back on the last six years with pride: "I started out on my own in 2000 and we now have four multiplex cinemas, 300 employees and a good CHF 50 million in sales," he says.
It will now be exciting to see how Pathé will play its new role as market leader and most important multiplex operator. The race between Kitag and Pathé to win numerous other Swiss multiplex projects is already underway. As market leader, Pathé also has a completely different weight in the negotiations with the cinema advertising marketer Cinecom, as the cinema operator could open its doors to a new marketer at any time.
In France, for example, Pathé cooperates with the marketer Mediavision. The latter already had a guest appearance in French-speaking Switzerland from 1999 to 2004, but was unable to gain a foothold in German-speaking Switzerland and had to give up.
Basel as a touchstoneSince then, Cinecom has once again held the cinema marketing monopoly, but this is showing the first cracks due to the dissatisfaction of some small cinema operators (WW 27/06). Cinecom will have to act more cautiously in future to prevent these cracks from getting bigger. Especially with Pathé, as the market leader could give a potential Cinecom competitor access to both German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland. The negotiations with Pathé for the multiplex lease in Basel are therefore the first touchstone for the PubliGroupe subsidiary.
Number 1 in EuropePathé is a subsidiary of the French Europalaces,
the largest cinema operator in Europe. It was formed in 2001 from the merger of Pathé and Gaumont, the two most important and long-established cinema chains in France. The Europalaces Group, which owns over 780 cinemas in France, the Netherlands, Italy and Switzerland, today generates a turnover of around 700 million euros. Markus Knöpfli
This is actually astonishing, as Pathé has become the largest Swiss cinema operator in terms of seats and audience market share - and this only shortly after the previous market leader Kitag took over the Dietrich Group with the Zurich multiplex Cinemax/ Abaton (12 screens, 2,350 seats) in 2005 and significantly extended its lead.
Power play in French-speaking SwitzerlandThanks to the Europlex takeover, Pathé now has a third multiplex, the Flon in Lausanne (7 screens, 1900 seats), as well as three so-called multisalles in Geneva and Lausanne. Multisalles are large cinemas with three to eight screens, but without integrated stores or restaurants as is the case with multiplexes. Pathé is also taking over three Europlex single-screen cinemas, but will dispose of these as soon as possible because the company is concentrating on large cinemas.
Pathé will open its fourth multiplex with 8 screens and 2,400 seats in Basel's Steinenvorstadt entertainment district in October. There, Grégoire Schnegg will also enter into a partnership with two neighboring cinema operators, so that eleven screens can ultimately be coordinated with each other in terms of programming at the Rheinknie.
From the fall, Pathé will therefore be present in four key cities, with the company achieving market shares of 70 to 80 percent in Geneva and Lausanne and around 50 percent in Basel. Grégoire Schnegg looks back on the last six years with pride: "I started out on my own in 2000 and we now have four multiplex cinemas, 300 employees and a good CHF 50 million in sales," he says.
It will now be exciting to see how Pathé will play its new role as market leader and most important multiplex operator. The race between Kitag and Pathé to win numerous other Swiss multiplex projects is already underway. As market leader, Pathé also has a completely different weight in the negotiations with the cinema advertising marketer Cinecom, as the cinema operator could open its doors to a new marketer at any time.
In France, for example, Pathé cooperates with the marketer Mediavision. The latter already had a guest appearance in French-speaking Switzerland from 1999 to 2004, but was unable to gain a foothold in German-speaking Switzerland and had to give up.
Basel as a touchstoneSince then, Cinecom has once again held the cinema marketing monopoly, but this is showing the first cracks due to the dissatisfaction of some small cinema operators (WW 27/06). Cinecom will have to act more cautiously in future to prevent these cracks from getting bigger. Especially with Pathé, as the market leader could give a potential Cinecom competitor access to both German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland. The negotiations with Pathé for the multiplex lease in Basel are therefore the first touchstone for the PubliGroupe subsidiary.
Number 1 in EuropePathé is a subsidiary of the French Europalaces,
the largest cinema operator in Europe. It was formed in 2001 from the merger of Pathé and Gaumont, the two most important and long-established cinema chains in France. The Europalaces Group, which owns over 780 cinemas in France, the Netherlands, Italy and Switzerland, today generates a turnover of around 700 million euros. Markus Knöpfli
