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Peek
No : 6
Aug 20, 2003 |
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Hello!
ThT
This is our first newsletter
after changing to the WEEKLY mode. Now it's easy to get your update
without having to wait for a fortnight!
Our entertainment landscape
has been very turbulent in recent times. The advent of the Internet
has changed the way we watch movies and listen to music. Change,
after all, has prevailed as a constant. In these changing market
conditions, we sneaked a peek at our movie business.
We have captured interesting
trends in the movie exhibition business as well. The net effect:
A peek that grew wide enough to cover the status of movie halls
too. But, before "showing" you the movie industry, we
take you through our customary survey of our economy.
Import
and Export Prices
Import prices rose by 0.5% in July. This was driven by
higher petroleum prices. Non-petroleum import prices too rose for
the second straight month. But this rise was a modest 0.1%. Export
prices fell by 0.1%.
Unemployment Claims
The seasonally adjusted initial claims were 390,000 by the
first week of August. The claims have decreased by 3,000 as compared
with the previous week's claim level of 393,000.
Retail
Sales Index
The total retail sales grew by 1.4% in July. This is the
biggest gain in the index since March. The sales of auto - up by
3.2% - was the prime force behind this growth. But the effect of
overall growth posted across all segments cannot be ruled out.
Oil and Gas Inventories
The week
ending August 8 saw a substantial build-up in crude oil inventories.
There has been a seasonal decline in motor gasoline stocks and a
marginal seasonal spurt in the inventories of distillates.
Happy Peeking!
Editorial Team
Marketspeek
Executive
Editor - Dr. Sharon Livingston
Editor - Vijay
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| Week's Peek |
Movie
industry – America
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The fourth quarter of any year remains the major influencer
in shaping the fortunes of the movie industry. Almost
30% of box office collections are usually registered during
this quarter.
- The number
of new releases hovers in the bracket of 450 to 475 every
year. There is a steep fall in the new releases since
1998, during which almost 500 movies were released.
- The industry
employs close to 0.6 million people in the US. The shares
of employment by each component of the industry are as
under:
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Vital
statistics
- There are 35,280
screens in the US. Of this, 98% of the screens are indoor
screens with the rest being drive-in screens.
- The number of
indoor screens has been declining at a rate of 4 to 5% per
annum. The rate of closure of drive-in screens has tapered
off to less than 1%.
- On the other
hand, the decline in the number of theatres is seen at a
rate of 14%. The US currently has around 6000 theatres,
drastically down from the 7700 theatres it had in the mid
90s.
- The
different types of theatres in the US are:
1. Mono-screen theatres
2. Miniplex venues (Houses more
than 2 but less than 7 screens)
3. Multiplex venues (Houses more than
8 but less than 15 screens)
4. Megaplex venues (Houses 16 and more
screens)
- The
decline of mono screen theatres is happening at a very fast
rate of more than 25%. The only segment seen to have a positive
growth rate is the megaplex venues, growing at a modest
10% per year.
- The number of
digital screens is on the rise. The US has around 125 digital
screens, having grown rapidly from the 12 screens it had
in 1999.
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Analysis
- Movies
- The decline
of the mono-screen model of display shows the inclination of consumers
to be engaged in other activities apart from movie viewing. The
active growth of megaplex venues adds further strength to this
trend. Mono-screen venues have to raise resources to position
themselves as entertainment centers instead of being mere movie-displayers.
- The box office
fortunes have depended on children-based themes. This shows that
movie viewers need fun for the whole family. This again underlines
the growth of multiple screen venues as they can serve the interest
of the whole family.
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| Wish I were |
What makes America rock? Full marks if you said `Rock and roll'
! And which is the show that most attractively packages this music?
The answer is `American Bandstand' - TV's most famous dance and
music series which is also the longest running, since 1952. And
the man behind its success is Dick Clark, one of the most recognised
and popular figures in the world of entertainment.
Dick Clark tells it all as it is in his memoirs: Rock, Roll and
Remember. Here he recalls how his parents took him to see a radio
program being broadcast from NYC: `The Jimmy Durante/Gary Moore
Show'. He was so fascinated with the workings of radio that he decided
then and there to make broadcasting his career. And this resolve
he carried out when he was just a teenager, starting his career
in 1945 in the mailroom of station WRUN in Utica, New York, working
his way up to weatherman and then newsman.
In l956, Clark joined WFIL radio in Philadelphia, Pa. and it is
here that he began working on the radio version of the show that
was to make him famous. The next year saw the American Broadcasting
Corporation (ABC), picking up this program for its daytime schedule,
giving it the name `American Bandstand'. This show soon emerged
as a popular dance and music TV show for teens. The series was originally
created to screen old jazz music films from the l930's and 40's.
In addition, it had local jazz music groups perform on the show,
with a studio audience of kids dancing to the music and being interviewed
by the host. From 1963 through 1987, American Bandstand ran on a
weekly basis to become one of the longest running shows in broadcast
television.
As Chairman and CEO of Dick Clark Productions, Clark also produced
Elvis, Murder in Texas, and The Woman Who Willed a Miracle - made-for-television
movies which garnered impressive audience ratings. The latter went
on to win an Emmy Award.
All this success
can be traced to two factors: Clark's commitment to audience satisfaction
and to top-notch quality. In an interview in Newsweek magazine in
1986, Clark points out, "If I were given the assignment of
doing a classical-music hour for PBS, it would be exquisite and
beautifully done." Despite the boyish good looks and charm
that are the identifying characteristics of this American icon,
it is Clark's economically efficient business savvy and his uncanny
ability to measure the American public's cultural mood that have
been his most important assets in television broadcasting.
And it is his
spirit and zeal that his country will be honoring when, hopefully,
American Bandstand celebrates its 100th Anniversary - on January
18, 2052!
For further
reading:
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/clarkdick/clarkdick.htm
http://www.booksunderreview.com/Arts/Celebrities/C/Clark,_Dick/
http://www.cnet.com/investor/news/newsitem/0-9900-1028-20666964-0.html
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| BrandFact |
| In
1893, Milwaukee's Pabst beer won a blue ribbon at the Chicago Fair,
and was sold thereafter as Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. |
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| This Week that Age |
August
15th, 1848 - The dental chair was patented by M.
Waldo Hanchett of Syracuse, New York.
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| Insight |
| Always
bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed
is more important than any other thing. |
-
Abraham Lincoln
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| If
you are looking to subscribe to our Executive Editor - Dr. Sharon
Livingston’s newsletter on primary research and projective
techniques, send a blank email to slivingston@aweber.com |
Disclaimer
The information
presented in this Newsletter is not based on any primary research
undertaken exclusively for this purpose; it is based on secondary
sources of information, as current as the researchers were able to
collect from the sources. However, should any specific client need
up-to-date information on this (or any other) segment, they may commission
Executive Solutions to do such
research. |
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