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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Author
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Topic: Carmike Cinemas Announces Senior Management Changes
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Mike Blakesley
Film God
Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 01-23-2009 10:24 AM
quote: Bobby Henderson
So many people are doing all of their movie watching at home that it's just going to get very difficult for most small towns to be able to continue operating movie theaters in the traditional sense.
Oh, baloney. I have a single screen in a town of less than 2000, and it is nicely profitable, thank you. I could give you the names of another dozen similar theatres in this state that are all doing good business. Our attendance in 2008, with the tanking economy and all, was almost exactly the same as in 2007 even though HDTVs are proliferating in this town just as fast as they are anywhere else. The key is having a clean facility, good customer service and good presentation, all areas where Carmike lacks severely (in many places at least -- definitely in Montana).
Their 10-screen Wynnsong in Billings has two concession counters, each with 3 or 4 stations. My wife and I have been there multiple times and have NEVER seen the second counter staffed. In fact, quite often they have one person manning the entire concession operation, with a line of grumbling patrons snaking back to the front doors.
Maybe you didn't notice that while movie attendance was indeed down a little in '08, virtually every other form of out-of-home entertainment had much larger declines.
[ 01-23-2009, 01:03 PM: Message edited by: Mike Blakesley ]
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 01-23-2009 01:49 PM
quote: Mike Blakesley
Oh, baloney. I have a single screen in a town of less than 2000, and it is nicely profitable, thank you.
Exactly. It's a single screen theater. Not a typical major chain's multiplex with a much higher operating cost overhead. And you don't have the complication of corporate guys from another state telling you how to manage your theater.
How far away is Billings from Forsyth? 100 miles? How far away is the next movie theater? Or even a good quality video store? In sparsely populated areas some businesses benefit from having a somewhat captive audience. They'll spend a lot on fuel driving to a competing business.
Still, small towns are disadvantaged in that many from following generations leave for bigger towns and cities. That means small towns and even small cities are just going to keep shrinking. And that doesn't bode well for Carmike's long term outlook. Oklahoma has lots and lots of little towns. Many used to have movie theaters, but don't anymore. My grandparents and a few other relatives lived in Temple, OK and that place isn't even bringing in enough tax revenue to have any police department anymore.
quote: Mike Blakesley
Their 10-screen Wynnsong in Billings has two concession counters, each with 3 or 4 stations. My wife and I have been there multiple times and have NEVER seen the second counter staffed. In fact, quite often they have one person manning the entire concession operation, with a line of grumbling patrons snaking back to the front doors.
That only confirms the point I made in my last post on precisely where Carmike needs to improve: paying a little extra to staff a theater properly. It's typical bean counter business B.S. to make theaters run at minimal staff levels, even during peak times. They think they'll make more profit by running the theater with fewer people, but instead piss off their customers with poor service and watch their attendance levels decline.
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 01-24-2009 09:22 PM
quote: Mike Blakesley
think it would be more accurate to say it was an effort to reduce overhead, make their projection more idiot-proof, and expand their slate of offerings to include alternative content.
I don't agree with that entirely -mainly since most Carmike locations have had their managers and assistant managers building up films, threading them, etc.
There's really little if any difference on reducing overhead, other than the idea the digital projection systems can be automated so the managers will free up some extra time so they can fill out even more paperwork and do other minutiae crap to keep the guys back in Columbus happy.
Idiot proofing the projection is a valid point. However, it should be mentioned that many of Carmike's locations had quite the smorgasbord of wildly varying equipment based on all those different theaters being bought over the years. A lot of that equipment was garbage. With everything converted to a single d-cinema system the maintenance and parts situation is greatly simplified. And that does result in movies being played without glitches more often.
Still, d-cinema isn't really idiot proof. It requires at least some computer literacy for a person to ingest a JPEG2000 movie into a Doremi server, set up the trailers and all that other stuff. I have to train people how to use similar looking software that controls LED-based jumbotrons and it's surprising to see how so many people lack simple file management understanding when it comes to using computers.
I think nearly all major movie theater chains are doing an overall crappy job -not just Carmike alone. But it seems like Carmike is always the one being singled out when we talk about the negative points with theater chains.
Some of the flames need to get put under the backsides of other circuits. Take Cinemark for instance. I swear, the only decent presentation I ever see at a Cinemark theater anymore is if its in an IMAX theater. If it's in a standard auditorium forget about it. I've been sorely disappointed way too many times already to put up with it anymore. AMC? Same freaking thing. I could go on and on. What happens at Carmike is not unique. The same crap is taking place industry wide.
Much of the movie theater industry has its head firmly up its butt and stuck there by its chin. They think they can just keep doing the same corner cutting and not addressing any of the issues of presentation quality or audience disturbances. They figure everyone will just keep coming regardless. And that's a risky, yet typical American business attitude. Honestly, they should be questioning everything.
Theater companies should be questioning what impact the change to HDTV and growing popularity of Blu-ray will have on their business -instead of just blowing it off as being no threat to their attendance levels.
I know my attendance at theaters has dropped off significantly over the last couple years, especially after buying my HDTV and PS3. And I have access to a couple of really well run and well equipped movie theaters. It's pretty easy to just stay home and watch the movie on a big HDTV, especially if there's only a 3-4 month wait for the Blu-ray.
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Martin McCaffery
Film God
Posts: 2481
From: Montgomery, AL
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 01-25-2009 01:30 PM
quote: Bobby Henderson
I think nearly all major movie theater chains are doing an overall crappy job -not just Carmike alone. But it seems like Carmike is always the one being singled out when we talk about the negative points with theater chains.
Can't disagree with you there. I just have 24 years of experience with Carmike here in Montgomery. I would venture to guess that the arrogance they had when their business plan was monopoly presence in small towns (which was enunciated in their original stock prospectus) continued over after that plan was abandoned.
I worked in DC as a relief projectionist for about 10 years before that (and 6 months in LA), so I saw the good theatres and the bad. I have never experienced anything consistently bad as Carmike. Remember, 24 years ago, they were exclusively Southern and the South has long had a horrible reputation for movies. Carmike certainly promoted that reputation. Maybe they've even gotten the rest of the country to go along
When Rave came in Carmike did nothing to improve their service or presentation, and got their clocks cleaned (the only things cleaned in their theatres;>). Rave is movies done mediocre, but beat the hell out of what Carmike did here.
As for converting to digital, replacing bad film with fair digital may be an improvement, but not significant once they let things start running down, as they always do.
And just out of curiosity, is it true Carmike keeps one 35mm screen in every theatre?
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Evans A Criswell
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1579
From: Huntsville, AL, USA
Registered: Mar 2000
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posted 01-27-2009 02:31 PM
Martin, it's good to see an Alabama guy posting here (and it's funny that your name is Martin and work for Carmike since many older Carmikes used to be Martin locations).
Here in Huntsville, Carmike previously had an old 1977 Consolidated location (University 6, very similar to Cinema North and South locations in Nashville, with auditoriums built in "pods" off the lobby area). I saw two movies at that location when it was still a first-run theatre and it didn't seem like a nice place in the early 90s. It seemed neglected at the time and it eventually closed after spending a couple of years as a second-run theatre after Cobb opened their Hollywood 16.
Carmike came along with their wonderful Carmike 10 on March 5, 1998 and it was the nicest theatre in town for a while, being the only theatre with adjustable masking on every screen, able to show both flat and scope properly in every auditorium, a first for Huntsville since 1982. They were also the first theatre with digital sound for every screen and the first with stadium seating. There were tons of reasons to go to that theatre, and I always hoped that the movie I wanted to see was playing there.
In contrast, in nearby Decatur, they have an old Fairlane/Litchfield location that opened in 1982 that they took over and expanded in 1992 (they also had the similar old Litchfield locations: Plaza Cinemas in Anniston and Hickory Hills 6 in Florence). When they ran 35mm, it was poorly maintained, with dim, unevenly lit images. I haven't visitied it since the digital switch, so I'm sure it's better now.
After the Rave Valley Bend 18 came along and the Monaco 14, Carmike soon cut their shows at Carmike 10 down to one per night except Friday and Saturday, and I've been told that it's not as well-kept as it once was.
Carmike's main failure is in maintenance of locations once they get a few years old. When something breaks, it's often not fixed as it should be, and over time, it shows. Things are only fixed when so severe that it causes lost shows. Otherwise, things like a digital sound system not working and playing in horribly calibrated analog, broken screen masking, improperly aimed projectors, unevenly lit images due to bad "bulb focus" become the norm rather than the exception. The Decatur location used to have these problems frequently. Just one look at Carmike 10's sign shows a lack of care. The top portion of the sign has been unable to hold letters for announcing the movies being played at the location. they've been broken for years and years. All the movie titles are crammed into the lower part of the sign.
I hope the upper management changes will turn Carmike around.
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