Study Finds Streaming Services Aren't Hurting Theater Chains & Film Fans Just Love Watching Films

One of the biggest stories of 2018 is the war between theater exhibitors and streaming services, most notably Netflix. The idea is that Netflix is attempting to steal potential customers from the multiplex by showing top-tier films from some of the biggest names working today on its streaming service. However, a new study seems to refute that. And if anything, it shows that people will watch movies, no matter where they’re shown.

The National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) recently hired EY’s Quantitative Economics and Statistics group to perform a study to show just how many people are forgoing the theaters in favor of streaming content. And instead of showing that movie fans, particularly younger ones, are fleeing from theaters in favor of content viewable on their phones or TVs, it showed that movie fans just like watching movies, no matter where.

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The general finding showed that the people who watch the most movies in theaters (i.e. – those who visit The Playlist) are also the same people who watch the most streaming content. And the opposite is also true, with the people who go to the theaters the fewest number of times being the same people who don’t watch much streaming content. So, in fact, the idea of theaters being the enemy of Netflix is absolutely not true. They’re complementary to each other.

In specific terms, the study spoke to 2,500 people in November. It found that 80% of those people have visited a movie theater at least once in the last 12 months. Of those people, if they’ve seen 9 or more films in theaters, they’re streaming approximately 11 or more hours of streaming content weekly. Those who have only seen one or two films in the last year stream far less, at around 7 hours per week.

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“The message here is that there’s not a war between streaming and theatrical,” said Phil Contrino, director of media and research at NATO (via Variety). “People who love content are watching it across platforms and all platforms have place in consumers’ minds.”

Showing this trend even more are those who haven’t visited a theater at all in the last 12 months. Of those people, nearly 50% of them don’t stream anything either. So, it’s not like they’re forgoing the theater experience for home viewing.

Another interesting fact found in the study is how teens factor into all this. The prevailing theory is that those kids between the ages of 13 and 17 are the biggest offenders in the eyes of theaters. These are the kids that are thought to be adopting streaming services more than anyone. But, in fact, that is not the case at all.

The study found that 13 to 17-year-olds are going to approximately 7.3 movies a year and streaming over 9 hours of content per week, which are the highest numbers of any age group. People aged 18 to 37 seem to be the problem area for theaters, as they only visit the theater 6 times a year (the lowest of any age group) and stream over 8 hours of content (third highest).

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The study also found that the platforms that should be worried most by streaming services is Basic Cable, as 2018 has shown the most people cutting the cord, so to speak.. “It’s siphoning off viewers from broadcast television and cable,” Contrino said. “That’s where it’s being disruptive.”

The moral of the story is clear (and not at all shocking) – film fans love films. They’ll go to the theater and they’ll stay at home. It all depends on where the latest, greatest films are showing. And they’re also pretty sick of cable.