Found this article...AMC calls movie card encouraging, awaits more data
KANSAS CITY, (Reuters) - Movie theater chain AMC Entertainment Inc., citing "encouraging" reports of increased attendance, said it will continue testing its frequent moviegoer card in two cities until the end of 2001 to gather more data.
In a statement Wednesday, AMC said a majority of people who bought the card, which debuted in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Omaha, Nebraska, on June 8, have boosted attendance this summer compared to last year, when they saw fewer than two films a month.
An AMC spokesman said the tests were showing card users were now attending movies up to the rate of an "avid" moviegoer, which is considered to be three times a month.
The AMC MovieWatcher Premium card allows users to see up to one film per day throughout each month for a single monthly fee.
The MovieWatcher card costs $14.50 per month in Oklahoma City and $17.50 in Omaha. AMC's single ticket price in the cities is $7.00.
When AMC initially launched the MovieWatcher Premium Card, it planned to expand into more test markets. But because data in both test cities are similar, AMC will now judge the data from the two more closely before expanding.
"The markets lined up very closely to each other. There wasn't much variance, so expanding the markets for the test won't tell us anymore than we already know ... We're very happy with the quality of the data we're getting," said King.
AMC will be watching closely how often moviegoers use the cards in the fall compared to the summer -- the most popular movie season -- and whether people renew their cards when the initial six-month period ends in December.
Frequent moviegoer cards were first introduced in Europe and have been
successful at boosting attendance in France and the UK, according to published reports.
But some distributors are concerned about how the split of box office
revenues will be calculated. AMC's King said within the test program, AMC has guaranteed that it will pay distributors film rental fees based on full ticket prices.
AMC is a major theater group with 177 theaters and 2,790 screens in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia.
Reuters/Variety
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posted 08-14-2001 03:40 PM
) profit behind the concession stand. Whatever level of markup, it's all in the popcorn. In my view, it's clearly a way to boost the number of customers, not the level of profit.
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