Viewers heading to theaters less, streaming movies more
Viewers heading to theaters less, streaming movies more
A new study highlights the habits of movie watchers, and how they consume new cinema.
A trip to the movie theater used to be a rare treat, looked forward to for days beforehand. But the advent of streaming has changed all of that, and now quite a bit of the magic has been lost from the movie-going experience. Is it gone for good? A new survey from AP NORC is offering more insight into the habits of movie watchers, who are streaming movies more and planning trips to the cinema less.
Key Details:
- More than a majority: Seventy-five percent of respondents report waiting for a movie to stream instead of seeing it in theaters.
- Not completely abandoned: Sixty-five percent said they had been to at least one movie in a theater in the past year.
- Watching wallets: Almost half of the respondents are upset with the cost of TV and streaming.
The data from AP NORC shows that 75% of people say they have watched a recently released movie on a streaming service like Netflix instead of going to see it in a theater. Among all age groups, 15% of respondents report doing this at least once a week, and the largest group (43% of the total) says it does so several times a year. Only 25% say they always go to theaters to see new movies.
Older adults are still going to theaters a bit more often, confirming that ingrained habits die hard. Thirty-five percent of adults 45 and older never watch newly released movies on streaming as opposed to in theaters. Among adults 18 to 44, however, 87% of viewers watch new movies on streaming instead of in theaters at least once per year.
This data isn’t to suggest that viewers have completely abandoned theaters — they haven’t. Among all adults, 65% report they have gone to a theater to see a movie in the past year. Interestingly, this number drops to 55% among adults aged 45 and older, suggesting that while they’re less likely to watch a new movie on streaming, they aren’t necessarily rushing to theaters dozens of times per year either.
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The data also shows that streaming services are more popular than pay-TV, with 78% of adults saying they subscribe to a streamer, versus just 45% who have live TV streaming service subscriptions, and 38% who have cable or satellite. But just because they’re using these subscriptions doesn’t mean they’re heedless of the cost of doing so.
Only 18% of adults report being unsatisfied with the availability of TV on streaming platforms and pay-TV services, and a mere 21% aren’t content with the availability of the movies they want to see. However, 49% say they are dissatisfied with the cost of streaming and pay-TV, providing yet another data point that customers think home entertainment has gotten too expensive.
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The cost of going to a theater is undoubtedly a factor in viewers eschewing cinemas, as well. Audiences love having access to top entertainment, but continue feeling squeezed by higher prices, as the data from AP NORC illustrates.
Netflix
Netflix is a leading subscription-based video streaming service that offers on-demand access to an extensive library of over 3,000 movies, 2,000+ TV shows, and a growing collection of acclaimed Netflix originals. Renowned for producing groundbreaking content, Netflix has become a cultural powerhouse with hit originals like “Stranger Things,” “Wednesday,” “Squid Game,” “The Crown,” “Tiger King,” “Bridgerton,” “The Witcher,” and “Black Mirror.”