U.S. Cinema Ad Market Expands 5.8%, Poised To Reach $800 Mil

by Joe Mandese , March 30, 2017

The U.S. cinema ad marketplace grew 5.8% in 2016, according to estimates released Wednesday by the Cinema Advertising Council. The trade group estimated advertisers spent $758.3 million advertising in CAC member theaters in 2016, up from $716.4 million in 2015.

According to a report jointly released by the CAC and the Video Advertising Bureau, U.S. cinema ad spending is on track to expand to $798.6 million this year. That report cites SNL Kagan estimates released in July 2016.

The same report, citing Nielsen data, estimated that the number of cinema advertisers in the U.S. grew 3.2% in 2016 to 1,128 in 2016 from 1,093 in 2015.

advertising, cinema

4 comments about "U.S. Cinema Ad Market Expands 5.8%, Poised To Reach $800 Mil".

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John Grono from GAP Research, March 30, 2017 at 7:27 p.m.
But what were the audience figures? As ticket prices escalate this becomes an ever more meaningless metric.
Reply

Jeff Hurley from National CineMedia, July 31, 2017 at 5:36 p.m.

Cinema audience has been quite consistent over years of data. On top of that, demographics are quite attractive for advertisers particularly those looking to reach A18-34. Though average tickets prices really have not changed that much ($0.75 in the past 5 years), Cinema audiences have demonstrated they are willing to absorb increased costs for premium content along with a premium experience. Just another reason they are a great audience for marketers to engage.

Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, July 31, 2017 at 5:53 p.m.

John, typically, about two thirds of the adult population now claims to have gone to a movie theater at least once in the past year and this works out to about 3.5-4.0 visits per year against all adults, or about 5 visits for claimed moviegoers. When I was a kid---eons ago---the average adult went to the movies about 35- 40 times or more each year-----but, as I said, that was a long time ago.

John Grono from GAP Research, July 31, 2017 at 6:34 p.m.

Thanks Jeff & Ed.

Ed your annual visitation frequency is pretty similar to ours here ... guideline s once every three months. But the visitation by demographic varies a lot. We have a system here called Cinetam which looks at ticket sales and then uses the demographic profile of 'member' visitation. Not perfect but better than guesswork.

Jeff, it has been a bugbear of mine for years that cinema is potentially the best measured medium for audience - simply count the tickets and release the data! Yet around the world they focus on box office. The "biggest movie ever" relies on box office take and not visitation - crazy. Good to hear that your prices have been relatively stable. It's around $13 AUD (approx $10.50 USD) here, but can be as high as $25 for 'luxury' tickets.