Movie Attendance in Decline: Why?

Roger Ebert, well-known movie critic:

Why are you not going to the movie theater?

Box office revenue at movie theaters “lagged far behind 2010,” an article by the AP’s David Germain reports. Partly that was because the year lacked an “Avatar.” Partly because a solid summer slate fell off in the autumn. Germain talks to several Hollywood insiders who tried to account for the general decline of ticket sales; 2011 had “smallest movie audience since 1995.” I have some theories of my own, fueled by what people tell me.

[He gives six reasons: absence of a must-see movie, ticket prices, theater experiences, refreshment prices, competition with other forms of delivering a movie — like Netflix, lack of choice…]

The message I get is that Americans love the movies as much as ever. It’s the theaters that are losing their charm. Proof: theaters thrive that police their audiences, show a variety of titles and emphasize value-added features. The rest of the industry can’t depend forever on blockbusters to bail it out.