Odeon Cinema Admissions Fall By 11%

In a trading statement released yesterday, Rank Organisation announced that turnover in its film and television division was up by twice the rate of inflation. However, admissions to the company’s Odeon cinemas fell by 11%, blamed on the abscence of any blockbuster films. Odeon’s fortunes seem to mirror those of cinema as a whole with April’s admissions this year (the most recent period for which data is available) down 11.5% on April’s 1994 figure.

The Rank Organisation, the country’s largest bingo operator, also criticised the National Lottery; admissions to bingo halls fell by 3% in the year and blame for this was attributed to the Lottery, in particular scratch cards. Rank has also called on the government to lift the ban on bingo advertising. According to the Advertising Association a Green Paper will be published in the next few weeks proposing an end to the ban on advertising bingo and casinos.