THE GIANTS OF EXHIBITION n Cinema is going through a period of transformation, with a plethora of technologies, comfort measures, food and drink options, and innovative service provisions appearing in the auditorium that offer an enhanced customer experience. It has already been a busy decade for the exhibition sector, and the next decade promises to carry on in the same vein. Exhibitors are getting to grips with the realities of being part of a digital media landscape, needing to innovate and invest in innovation in order to keep the cinema at the forefront of the TRANSFORMING A MOVIEGOING EXPERIENCE Cinema exhibition is gearing up for customer experience and globalization by David Hancock leisure industry. Technology is not the only way to encourage guests to spend more and have a better experience—it is a tool that taps into the interests of younger audiences, while service levels and boutique cinema are of more interest to the older age groups. The buzzword of <strong>2017</strong>, however, may be consolidation. Cinema exhibition has long been a highly fragmented, mainly national business, and there are few groups with a strong international presence. That is changing, with Wanda in particular building a global cinema exhibition infrastructure that accounts for over 8 percent of the world’s screens, twice the number of its nearest rival. AMC is making waves the world over, acting as the international cinema vehicle of Chinese group Dalian Wanda, and has acquired itself into a strong position in several countries. The 8 percent is a relatively small amount compared to some other concentrated industries (think semiconductors, for example) but historically high for cinema. When consolidation happens, often triggered by one group taking a dominant position and others reacting to it, it tends to happen quickly. The top 10 global exhibitors account for 28.1 percent of all the world’s screens at end 2016 (compared to 25.1 percent in 2015), and we can expect this figure to rise significantly in the future. At a national level, too, the exhibition world is gradually becoming more concentrated, although sometimes so gradually that it is hard to notice. The market share of the leading five exhibitors (by screens) is a measure of market concentration. In the U.S., the share has increased from 44.7 percent in 2003 to 52.0 percent in 2015, a significant but steady increase. The same measure in the UK grew from 64.3 percent to 74.6 percent, while in Italy it went from 12.5 percent in 2005 to 25.5 percent in 2015, which also underlines the very distinct nature of each cinema market. There are several groups that could challenge Wanda, but its closest rivals are Cinemark (U.S.), Cinépolis (Mexico), CJ CGV (Korea), CinemaCity/Cineworld (Israel/UK) and Vue Entertainment (UK). The U.S. circuit Regal is the second biggest circuit globally but focuses on North America rather than a global presence. The Korean CJ CGV (2,500 screens) is interesting as it has already stated it is aiming for 10,000 screens by 2020, and it is also pushing the technology side of the business (with multiscreen format Screen X, 4D provider 4DX, and its experimentation with virtual reality). A world in which three exhibitors control half the world’s screens (which could feasibly happen) would be a very different world for distributors, manufacturers, and fellow exhibitors, and it is one that could well be under way in <strong>2017</strong>. n David Hancock is the research director, film and cinema, at IHSMarkit and is also president of the European Digital Cinema Forum. USA: LEADING EXHIBITORS BY 3D SCREENS USA: LEADING EXHIBITORS BY PLF SCREENS Q3 2016 RANK EXHIBITORS COUNTRY 3D SCREENS 1 Regal Entertainment Group USA 3123 2 AMC USA 2663 3 Cinemark Cinemas USA 2455 4 Carmike Cinemas Canada 1049 5 Cineplex Entertainment USA 849 6 Marcus Theatres Canada 192 7 Landmark Cinemas USA 164 8 National Amusements USA 149 9 B&B Theatres USA 143 10 Pacific USA 138 source: IHS Markit Q2 2016 RANK EXHIBITORS COUNTRY PLF SCREENS 1 Cinemark Cinemas USA 138 2 Regal Cinemas USA 91 3 Cineplex Entertainment Canada 83 4 Marcus Theatres USA 44 5 AMC USA 34 6 Carmike Cinemas USA 34 7 Santikos USA 22 8 Cinetopia Canada 9 9 B&B Theatres USA 8 10 Galaxy Theatres USA 8 source: IHS Markit 26 BoxOffice ® FEBRUARY <strong>2017</strong>
TO THE 50 GIANTS OF EXHIBITION FROM EVERYONE AT WE SALUTE OUR EXHIBITION PARTNERS WHO MADE IT ON THE LIST And we are looking forward to doing even more amazing work with all of you in <strong>2017</strong>. www.webedia.us www.peachdigital.com
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