National CineMedia: Revs Up 12%, Adds Affiliate

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National CineMedia, the nation's largest cinema advertising company, saw revenues grow 12.3% last year to $427.5 million, according to the company. This increase was due mostly to a 13.2% increase in ad revenue, which grew from $335.1 million to $379.4 million over the same period.

NCM experienced growth across a wide range of categories, including domestic auto, video game software, home video equipment, credit cards, telecom hardware, insurance underwriters and cable TV.

The company also benefited from the introduction of 3D pre-show advertising, which has been incorporated into its pre-show package of advertising and entertainment content, called FirstLook.

The network of 3D screens is also increasing rapidly from 6,000 at the end of 2010 to a projected 10,000 by the end of this year. NCM also noted growth in its experiential marketing arm, including Fathom Events, where revenues grew 5.5% from $45.5 million in 2009 to $48 million in 2010.

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NCM also announced that it has signed up a new affiliate, Coming Attractions Theatres, which owns 20 theaters with a total 157 screens in media markets across the Northwest, including California, Washington, Oregon and Alaska. These theaters attract an annual audience of more than 3 million.

Coming Attractions Theatres is scheduled to join the NCM affiliate network in October of this year. In addition to NCM's FirstLook pre-show ad and entertainment package, selected First Look Theatres locations will also participate in its Fathom experiential marketing events.

Last week, the Cinema Advertising Council, which represents the entire cinema advertising industry -- including NCM's main competitor, Screenvision -- reported that total industry revenues increased 12.7%, from $584 million in 2009 to $658 million in 2010. Cinema ad growth thus outpaced total ad spending, which grew 6.5% in 2010, according to a recent report from Kantar Media.

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