I’m no fan of this change coming from AMC. Despite the goodwill of many individual investors having saved AMC theaters through a hard situation in 2020 and 2021, the cinema chain is sticking it to consumers.
It has always been that when you bought a movie ticket, you bought a good view if you were early and you enjoyed the same price as everyone else. Now, that may be changing as AMC looks to charge consumers based on the location of the seat. I pray they charge huge amounts of money for teenage couples wanting to buy seats on the back row, but otherwise I find this to be a really poor attempt at squeezing more money out of consumers. And don’t get me wrong — I understand AMC is a business that needs to make higher revenues. My issue with this particular strategy is that it regressively penalizes the movie-viewing experience of those who can’t afford the best seats. I think there are better ways than pushing the poor to the walls.
AMC is introducing "Sightline," a new ticket pricing strategy that will price seats based on location in theater.
Value: First few rows
Preferred: Middle of theater, best view
Standard: Most seats in theaterProgram is in select markets, will be expanded to all by end of year. pic.twitter.com/eL4K7SQOxq
— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) February 6, 2023
So count me as a critic of this one. And if AMC is paying attention, here’s how I would go about increasing revenues rather than this plan:
- Begin charging a higher rate on PG-13 and R rated films, but leave the G and PG alone.
- Add an extra fee on reservations, but allow customers to pick their seats. Then when reservation customers arrive, provide them with a discount card for future popcorn purchase (reservation customers are more likely to return, popcorn is a great incentive with almost no cost).
- Add a significant extra charge for movies on their preview and opening night dates.
But hey, that’s just me. And I’m not actuary.
So what do you think of AMC’s change? Is it something that might dissuade you from going to a movie? Let us know in the comments below. And, as always, keep reading That Park Place!
Unless the plan is to lower prices for “value seating” from what those prices are currently, this will keep even more people away from theaters.
I thought the exact same thing AJ. Might as well stay home and stream movies. You’re already paying for the streaming service and the streaming service (monthly charge) is cheaper than a movie ticket.
Agreed. With TV sets/monitors growing in size, does one really need the theater? This generation growing up now watches stuff on their phone, not theater.
The traditional theaters like AMC are having to answer the challenge of presitege movie houses that are cropping up all of a sudden.
Places like Alamo Drafthouse or Sperry’s Moviehouse.
Consider this, taking a family of four to an American movie theater can easily run you $100 today.
Why not spend $150, so you can have beer and pizza while getting massages from your heated chair while you and your family watch the movie?
Pricey? Absolutely.
But it’s becoming a special occasion anyway.
If you have to spend big, then spend for a quality night out.
Movies like Puss In Boots / M3gan / Plane all got VOD releases 2 weeks after theatrical release. Most movies are 45 to 30 days after release now. Why go to the Theaters anymore with this type of pricing ? Plus add in Bidens Recession most wont be able to afford this anyway. People will just stay home & AMC will be next to file for bankruptcy
This is absolutely the wrong approach especially after theater going is finally starting to level out after the ridiculous Covid lockdown.
But these increased prices and additional fees are going to coerce people to watch streaming movies at home and will inflict far more damage on the theater business.
AMC the next chain that will file for bankruptcy sooner or later
I need the seating chart to figure out what are the best seats according to tiered pricing. I usually don’t want to sit in the center. I prefer the aisle seats like for airplanes too. The value seats appear to be the worse. It’s not even worth sitting in the front row. They should charge the highest rates at the most popular times and on opening weekend. I hope matinee pricing and $5 Tuesday remains.