• USA Today, Wednesday, December 7, 2005 12 PM

The number of marketers running commercials at movie theaters, long a common practice in Europe, is growing in the U.S. New research shows that marketers spent $400 million on in-theater ads this year, an 18 percent increase over last year, and that a 15 percent spending growth is expected each year through 2008. One of the primary reasons for this jump is technological advances in digital projection, which make it easier to change ads or target ads to different audiences. Theater owners have also spent about $150 million in the last three years to install relatively simple digital projectors just for ads. The transition seems to be working and is attracting national advertisers, who account for 75 percent of theater ads. But not everyone is applauding the trend. "I detest having to go to a theater and sit through 20 minutes of advertising," says Robert Bucksbaum, president of industry research firm ReelSource, who owns two theaters that don't show commercials. "But it's definitely the wave of the future."

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