Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Even Hour Showtimes VS Odd Hour Show Times

This is topic Even Hour Showtimes VS Odd Hour Show Times in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Nate Lehrke (Member # 1460) on 05-06-2003, 03:10 AM:

Currently the theatre I work for runs mid 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9 o'clock shows. The last film usually drops around midnight. The company is considering changing all our show times to early 12, 2, 4, 6, 8 o'clock shows, therefore the last film would drop around 10:30. We are an independent 'art house' theatre & the upper management feels that even houred show times will be more economical for the staff & the patrons. (I think that the management just doesn't want to be getting home so late) No one in town here runs primary even hour shows, so maybe we would have a niche. Do any of you fellow Film-Techers run even houred shows as rule? What about not opening until the three o'clock set?

I think that we are basically going to lose our last set business daily. The daytime customers will still come since generally they are senior citizens with nothing going on. But with only one evening set, we will certainly lose business, especially on the weekends. I just don’t see the practicality of the change.
Does anyone have some PRO/CONS they could share about only even hour shows?

(Edited Subject title so it is not ALL CAPS)

[ 05-06-2003, 04:48 AM: Message edited by: Joe Redifer ]

Posted by John Scott (Member # 520) on 05-06-2003, 11:48 AM:

The even show times will be ok for things like the 8pm set since it will draw people who think a 9pm show is too late.

The problem comes in with the 6pm show which will conflict with the dinner hour for many people. That set will probably suck on attendance.

Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 05-06-2003, 12:18 PM:

I love the idea of the even hour show times. I think 8:00 PM is the prime movie going time. But the industry wants two evening shows. So 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM seem to be the best compromise. We run the odds but we push them as early as possible. We usually have a few 6:30 and 6:45s. This week we are running a traditional 1,3,5,7,9 schedule. I'll be interested to learn how your experiment turns out. I think 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM are better show times but the industry tends to disagree.

Posted by Patrick McDonough (Member # 1363) on 05-06-2003, 01:16 PM:

These are our showtimes on a mat day,+
12 1215 1230, 3 315 330, 6 615 630, 9 915 930.

Posted by Scott D. Neff (Member # 185) on 05-06-2003, 01:44 PM:

I for some reason always liked 12:00 2:15 4:30 6:45 9:00. That was my favorite 1h45m movie showtime set. That's about when I expect movies to be starting around.

For some reason with mega-plexes it's somehow become okay to have movies starting as late as 10:45, which means that the previous show started at 8:30 and who the hell goes to the movies at 8:30??? Now that's okay if you're showing multiple prints and you have other showtimes, but my luck is that the auditorium I want to see the movie in always started at some stupid hour like 7:45 or 8:15.

Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 05-07-2003, 10:33 AM:

[Embarrassed]

(responded to the wrong post)

[ 05-07-2003, 03:17 PM: Message edited by: Ian Price ]

Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 05-07-2003, 02:24 PM:

I know of one megaplex that used to schedule shows the way all-news radio stations schedule traffic reports.

Until a year or so ago the Loews New Brunswick started its shows at :00, :10, :20, :30, :40 and :50. That insured a steady flow of customers all day long. Careful scheduling and plenty of turnaround time did the job. It helped that Central New Jersey has a lot of commuters and New Brunswick is a college town.

Generally the AMCs in New Jersey go 1/2, 4/5, 7/8, 9:30/10:30 for their show schedules.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 05-07-2003, 04:35 PM:

quote:
I know of one megaplex that used to schedule shows the way all-nhews radio stations schedule traffic reports.

Ha! I can hear it now (in annoying radio-DJ voice): "Movies on the threes! All shows start at :03, :13, :23, :33, :43, and :53 minutes past the hour! All movies, all the time! We're pumping out the hits with fifty thousands watts of power! Tenth caller gets a free small Coke!" ...etc...

We can only hope that Clear Channel doesn't get into the film exhibition business.

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 05-07-2003, 06:40 PM:

Anybody got show times for the Matrix Reloaded yet? I hear it's 218 long.

Posted by Matt Hale (Member # 1518) on 05-07-2003, 07:28 PM:

Speaking purely as a moviegoer, I prefer a start time somewhere in the 7:30 to 8pm period. I have trouble getting to the theatre (any theatre) before 7:30 and theres just no way I can get there any time before 7. I cant tell you the number of movies I've wanted to go to but couldn't becasue they insisted on starting at 6:30 or 6:45.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-07-2003, 09:15 PM:

Matrix Reloaded = 138 mins, according to IME.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 05-07-2003, 10:15 PM:

quote:
Matrix Reloaded = 138 mins, according to IME

quote:
Anybody got show times for the Matrix Reloaded yet? I hear it's 218 long.

138 minutes is 2 hours 18 minutes.

Posted by Rachel Gilardi (Member # 1016) on 05-08-2003, 11:23 AM:

We run the odds but like Ian we try to push our shows up to 6:30 instead of 7. We often also have an 8 or 8:15 showing mixed in for the people who just "show up". Being an ART house pushing our shows up as early as 6:15 doesn't hurt our attendance and the 8 o'clocks don't hurt either! [thumbsup]

It all depends on your crowd, if you do good with your late shows keep it on the odds otherwise you may be better off pushing it up.

Posted by Dennis Udovich (Member # 1066) on 05-08-2003, 03:19 PM:

Having 14 screens, you have to spread the times out. A normal schedule would be 1st shows between 12:30 and 2 pm; 2nd set between 3:30 and 4:30 pm; early evening from 6:30 to 7:30 pm; late shows from 8:45 to 9:45 pm. We schedule start times every 5 minutes and usually 2 or 3 films start at the same time. Consideration for how much business and of course feature length. By spreading out the times, spreads out the customers coming in, which means shorter lines at the concession counter - and that's where you make the money!

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 05-08-2003, 03:28 PM:

AFAIK, some European theatres try to schedule starts on the quarter-hour, even if it means extra staffing to handle "bunching" of the crowds. The thought being that it's easier to remember a show starts at 7:00 or 7:15 or 7:30 than at 7:05 or 7:20 or 7:35:

http://www.kinopolis.de/freiberg/spielplan/index.html

http://www.kinopolis.de/mtz/spielplan/index.html

Posted by Bob Peticolas (Member # 328) on 05-10-2003, 03:27 PM:

We run foreign and independent films. Every night at 7.30p. We tried a 9.45p on three nights a week but dropped them because of a lack of interest (i.e. no one showed up).

Sunday is our only matnee day: 2.30p, 5p, and 7.30p. The 7.30 is the lightest on Sunday, but does well.

Posted by Nate Lehrke (Member # 1460) on 05-11-2003, 01:48 AM:

Bob - How many screens do you run?

Posted by Bob Peticolas (Member # 328) on 05-11-2003, 07:12 PM:

Only one.

Our patrons get set in their ways and like the constant starting time. No guessing, or checking the paper/web site. Just show up before 7.30 and enjoy.