Film Weekly 1956-57 year book : Canadian motion picture industry (1956)

Our Business By N. A. TAYLOR CHANGING trends in our business, started in previous years, continue. More theatres are closing and some are trying new policies. Some shuttered thea¬ tres are being re-opened by ambitious people who think they can inject more of what it takes to be successful than their predecessors. These new exhibitors can only suc¬ ceed if circumstances are extremely propiti¬ ous. It becomes increasing¬ ly evident that we must operate our business with a new set of rules and a new type of thinking. Before the TV era, we had a general rule of thumb that towns or areas could profitably support one theatre seat for every ten people. Proof of the value of this rule was evidenced by the fact that generally a town of 4,000 could support about 400 seats and a town of 30,000 about 3,000 seats. Movies ceased to be the entertainment “time waster” when TV arrived and replaced it in that category. Fewer people now go to the movies regu¬ larly or by habit, and most who do attend less frequently. In addition, all kinds of new diversions have taken hold and at¬ tracted millions of people, thereby appro¬ priating their spare time. Countless thousands of automobiles and other types of hard goods, such as radios, washingmachines, TV sets, etc., have been sold on very liberal time payment plans. In consideration of these facts, one must now assume that a new rule of thumb must be resolved and this appears to be: one seat for every 20 to 25 people. If this is logical, it means that in a town of 30,000 popula¬ tion one or more theatres must now be closed or go out of business, and a town of 3,000 can only support about 150 seats or less. This may very well prove economically unsound and cause business failure. Notwithstanding these changed condi¬ tions, most of the theatres which have passed out of the picture have been old and antiquated. Very few of the new and modern ones have failed to live with the new set of conditions under which we now operate. Those which have are largely ones that have been badly located and were, therefore, ill-fated from their con¬ ception. This will apply particularly in large cities where such theatres might be relegated to a sub-sub-run. Drive-in thea¬ tre building has been at such a rate as to make many situations “over seated” in this category. Where this condition has arisen, there has been premium and price cutting competition to the point of ruina¬ tion for some. This is partly caused by the fact that most drive-in building has been activated by promoters with no true con¬ ception of the economic possibilities of such ventures. * * * In the last year there has been an in¬ crease in the number of TV stations to the point that about 85 per cent of the population is now within receiving range. However, Canada is yet to feel any impact from color broadcasting or multiple sta¬ tions in any city. This is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future and only set owners within range of American cities can presently receive more than one station. In Quebec, however, there are some towns with both French and Eng¬ lish language stations. There is some talk of the introduction of toll TV in the near future and also of community antennae or other forms of inexpensive local TV broad¬ casting. The growth of this will depend to a great extent on the financial success of the original ventures. * ❖ * It seems safe to assume that theatres which are properly located, suitably in¬ viting and comfortable, and with sufficient attendance potential, will continue to pros¬ per in Canada. In the United States the problem of many theatres has been the shortage of product. This has not been so acute in Canada because of a different attitude on the part of the public and consequently the exhibitor. In Quebec many theatres use films from France as a regular part of their programming diet. In the rest of the country, British films enjoy a great deal of playing time. While not as readily accepted as American films, 21