Coming soon to a cinema near you? Ticket prices shaped by demand
With TV broadcasters changing their business models to meet evolving consumer viewing habits, media lecturers Deb Verhoeven and Bronwyn Coate look at what cinemas are doing to adapt and remain financially relevant.
Chances are that if you see just one film this year, you probably saw it already; the period between Christmas and Australia Day is typically the busiest and most competitive in our film calendar.
But even when you arrive at a ticket counter at a quieter time of year you will usually pay the same price to see a film irrespective of its popularity, quality or budget size. Imagine if you could instead pay less to see films that are not in high demand?
A new smart application means this will soon be a reality for some Australian consumers. Melbourne-based start up Choovie will launch a service offering demand-based ticket pricing to filmgoers at the end of March, with over 100 screens across metropolitan and regional venues in Victoria, NSW and ACT.
Isn’t it ironic that a story about the latest digital ticketing option is illustrated with a picture of a roll of tickets of a type not seen in any cinema this century?
Yeah, like the Australian film industry really needs “shaking up”. All those producers and creative types people making all that money by over-charging at the box office.
Give us a break!