Cinema Admissions Increase Over Decade, Revenues Follow Suit

Cinema adspend has been rising steadily over the past decade, reaching a total of £87m for the 12 months to September 2000, according to CIA Medialab research. Cinema admissions have also risen over the period, from just under 90 million during 1989 to just over 100 million during 1999.

However, this growth has not always been steady, as figures for 1995 and 1998 saw a year on year drop. Cinema advertising, in contrast, rose steadily, picking up speed in the second half of the decade, until 1999, which saw a sharp upturn of 25% in real adspend year on year.

Cinema’s share of adspend across all media remains small – 1%, compared to the big players TV, which commands 48%, and Press which claims 39%. The product category representing the most significant revenue source is drink, which brought in £12.1m during the year to September 2000.

This is reflected in the top cinema advertiser – United Distillers and Vintners, which spent £4m during the year, up 10% from 1999 – and the top cinema brand – Smirnoff Vodka, which spent £2.6m during 2000, up 16% on 2000. Drink is followed by Food, with a spend of £10.2m, Cosmetics and Toiletries, with £9.3m and Computers, Finance and Business & Industrial, which spent between £7m and £7.5m each during the 12 months.

The largest increase in spending was by the second largest spending brand, Virgin Net Internet, which invested £160,000 in cinema advertising during the year to September 1999, and £2.2m in the following 12 months, an increase of 1,295%. Other large increases were seen by the fifth largest brand, Red Bull, up 70% to £1.8m and Haagen Dazs in eighth place, up 347% at £1.5m. Only one of the top ten brands dropped its spending on cinema during the year- 9th placed Peugeot reduced its spend from £3.3m during 1999 to £1.5m the following year.

CIA Medialab: 020 7803 2000

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