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February 27, 2005
By BRANDON KEIM Columbia News Service
<!-- PHOTOS AND EXTRAS --><!-- END EXTRAS --> A long time ago in a galaxy not so far, far away, theatergoers knew movies would start on time. There would be some previews, of course, but no TV-style ads to hold up the show.
Nowadays, pre-movie advertising rakes in hundreds of millions of dollars each year for theater owners. But with some movies starting nearly half an hour after theaters say they will, and ticket prices as high as ever, lawmakers and citizens across the country are fighting back. Their demand: that theaters tell them when movies actually start, giving customers the option of arriving after the ads.
"To steal people's time in the way that movie theaters are doing, it is as bad as stealing their money," said Mark Weinberg, a Chicago lawyer who took the Loews Cineplex Entertainment Group to court for consumer fraud.
In January, Andrew Fleischmann, a Democratic state representative from West Hartford, Conn., proposed legislation to make theaters announce precisely when movies, not ads and previews, begin. Unlike most bills proposed in Connecticut, Fleischmann's has already been selected to receive a public hearing from the general law committee. He expects it to pass easily.
"I probably introduced 20 bills this year, including some on very important topics like expanding coverage for health insurance and improving education, and this bill has received more attention than all the rest of them combined," said Fleischmann, who wrote the bill in a few spare minutes after being approached by a pair of exasperated constituents. "There's a lot of ticked-off people."
Weinberg's quest has proved more difficult. His case was thrown out of Cook County Circuit Court two years ago, but he is to bring it before the Illinois Appellate Court in April.
His friends wonder why he has devoted so much time to this issue, and in response Weinberg recalls the words of an elderly friend: "I'm 76 years old. Ten or 15 minutes is a long time to me!"
But both Weinberg and Fleischmann believe the issue is not simply about lost minutes. It also involves popular discontent with the ubiquity of advertising.
"People are generally quite frustrated over the level of commercialism in today's culture," Fleischmann said. "You go to the movies for a couple hours of escape, to sit in the dark and be swept away, and to have that space invaded has upset a lot of people."
High ticket prices also heighten consumer dissatisfaction with lengthy pre-movie delays, said Gary Ruskin, executive director of the consumer watchdog group Commercial Alert. "People get especially mad because they spend eight, nine, 10 dollars for the so-called privilege of being force-fed commercials," Ruskin said.
Early in January, after the organization's 5,000 members chose pre-movie ads as their No. 1 complaint, Ruskin started a campaign urging citizens to boycott offending theaters and complain to local officials.
Theater companies, however, argue that revenues from pre-movie advertising — which, according to the Cinema Advertising Council, is growing faster than any other part of the advertising industry, with revenues increasing to $315 million in 2003 from $212 million in 2002 — are necessary for their survival.
"We're in a challenging time," said Cliff Marks, president of marketing and sales at Regal Cinemedia, the nation's largest theater operator. Because most of the cost of a movie ticket is paid to studios, and amenities like stadium seating and extra-large screens are so expensive, cash-strapped theaters end up "walking a fine line between creating new revenue streams and honoring our patrons."
Marks said Regal sympathizes with complaints that commercials are invasive and movies start too late. In response, the company has installed projection systems that begin movies at precisely their advertised start time.
"We actually agree with consumers who feel commercials should not be airing on their dime," Marks said. "We just think the notion of being regulated by the government is unnecessary."
Regal Cinemedia is the industry exception, however, and on a recent night at the AMC Empire 25 theater in New York's Times Square, patrons were almost uniform in expressing their annoyance at pre-movie advertising.
"I try to close my eyes and block out the sound," said Grace Welch, 80, of Long Island, who declared that she would soon contact her own elected officials. "I've always wondered what I could do to stop it."
Times Argus
February 27, 2005
By BRANDON KEIM Columbia News Service
<!-- PHOTOS AND EXTRAS --><!-- END EXTRAS --> A long time ago in a galaxy not so far, far away, theatergoers knew movies would start on time. There would be some previews, of course, but no TV-style ads to hold up the show.
Nowadays, pre-movie advertising rakes in hundreds of millions of dollars each year for theater owners. But with some movies starting nearly half an hour after theaters say they will, and ticket prices as high as ever, lawmakers and citizens across the country are fighting back. Their demand: that theaters tell them when movies actually start, giving customers the option of arriving after the ads.
"To steal people's time in the way that movie theaters are doing, it is as bad as stealing their money," said Mark Weinberg, a Chicago lawyer who took the Loews Cineplex Entertainment Group to court for consumer fraud.
In January, Andrew Fleischmann, a Democratic state representative from West Hartford, Conn., proposed legislation to make theaters announce precisely when movies, not ads and previews, begin. Unlike most bills proposed in Connecticut, Fleischmann's has already been selected to receive a public hearing from the general law committee. He expects it to pass easily.
"I probably introduced 20 bills this year, including some on very important topics like expanding coverage for health insurance and improving education, and this bill has received more attention than all the rest of them combined," said Fleischmann, who wrote the bill in a few spare minutes after being approached by a pair of exasperated constituents. "There's a lot of ticked-off people."
Weinberg's quest has proved more difficult. His case was thrown out of Cook County Circuit Court two years ago, but he is to bring it before the Illinois Appellate Court in April.
His friends wonder why he has devoted so much time to this issue, and in response Weinberg recalls the words of an elderly friend: "I'm 76 years old. Ten or 15 minutes is a long time to me!"
But both Weinberg and Fleischmann believe the issue is not simply about lost minutes. It also involves popular discontent with the ubiquity of advertising.
"People are generally quite frustrated over the level of commercialism in today's culture," Fleischmann said. "You go to the movies for a couple hours of escape, to sit in the dark and be swept away, and to have that space invaded has upset a lot of people."
High ticket prices also heighten consumer dissatisfaction with lengthy pre-movie delays, said Gary Ruskin, executive director of the consumer watchdog group Commercial Alert. "People get especially mad because they spend eight, nine, 10 dollars for the so-called privilege of being force-fed commercials," Ruskin said.
Early in January, after the organization's 5,000 members chose pre-movie ads as their No. 1 complaint, Ruskin started a campaign urging citizens to boycott offending theaters and complain to local officials.
Theater companies, however, argue that revenues from pre-movie advertising — which, according to the Cinema Advertising Council, is growing faster than any other part of the advertising industry, with revenues increasing to $315 million in 2003 from $212 million in 2002 — are necessary for their survival.
"We're in a challenging time," said Cliff Marks, president of marketing and sales at Regal Cinemedia, the nation's largest theater operator. Because most of the cost of a movie ticket is paid to studios, and amenities like stadium seating and extra-large screens are so expensive, cash-strapped theaters end up "walking a fine line between creating new revenue streams and honoring our patrons."
Marks said Regal sympathizes with complaints that commercials are invasive and movies start too late. In response, the company has installed projection systems that begin movies at precisely their advertised start time.
"We actually agree with consumers who feel commercials should not be airing on their dime," Marks said. "We just think the notion of being regulated by the government is unnecessary."
Regal Cinemedia is the industry exception, however, and on a recent night at the AMC Empire 25 theater in New York's Times Square, patrons were almost uniform in expressing their annoyance at pre-movie advertising.
"I try to close my eyes and block out the sound," said Grace Welch, 80, of Long Island, who declared that she would soon contact her own elected officials. "I've always wondered what I could do to stop it."
Times Argus
