Barriers to Diversity in Film – A Research Review – Aug 07

Cinema goers 13.1 86.9
PPV buyers 15.8 84.2
Source : UK Film Council Statistical Yearbook 2006-07
It may be that higher cinema attendances by minority ethnic groups
can be explained by their younger age structure compared to the rest
of the population, as younger age groups are more likely to visit the
cinema frequently than older people. Access to Bollywood films may
be relevant in explaining the higher cinema attendance of South Asian
groups: 50% of South Asians reported they went more than once a
month compared to 38% of African Caribbeans (BFI 2000). In 2005,
minority ethnic groups were over-represented among buyers of
cinema tickets and rental films, and under represented in pay-per-
view and retail DVD. The figures for 2006 shows that buyers of pay-
per-view almost doubled since 2005. It is the second and third
generations of minority ethnic groups who go to the cinema
frequently; 30% of those born overseas never go to the cinema,
compared to 4% of those born in the UK (Bennett et al 2005).
4.3.5 Disabled people
As in previous years, disabled people were significantly under-
represented among those who paid to go to the cinema in 2006 (UK
Film Council Yearbook 2006-7). Retail DVD/Video was the only market
segment in which disabled purchasers matched the overall population
percentage.
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