Cinemas feeling streaming pain

Daniel Puchert

Daniel Puchert

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Streaming poaching cinema customers in South Africa

International streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ aren't only stealing customers from traditional broadcasters like DStv, they're poaching customers from cinema chains in the country.

This is according to multimedia and television journalism lecturer at the Durban University of Technology, Siphumelele Zondi, who added that the expansion of access to Internet connectivity in South Africa means more residents are moving to streaming services.
 
I stopped going to cinema a long time before I got streaming platforms. They are just a model that is going obsolete.
They made snacks ridiculously expensive, and half the time I have gone to a cinema in the last while the sound was either two loud or messed up, the cinema was not in great shape, and there as always if there are many people there some will be complete idiots who ruin the experience for others and the management of the cinema does nothing. What has changed is we have better options. Used to be a big difference between watching at home vs a cinema 30 years back. Now for not that money I have a nice screen, a projector, and a decent speaker and can watch big screen movies in the comfort of my home. Growing up it was only the ultra wealthy people who could afford a cinema room or anything close to it. These days big screen TV's and cheaper projectors are making it far easier and more comfortable to not go out to the cinema.
 
ToxicBunny said:
No shyte sherlock...

Oh and it also doesn't help that popcorn and a coke costs like R70 or something stupid these days.
Click to expand...

Almost the price of 6 beers, that I can sit back and enjoy in my favorite chair, while watching on my large, flat screen TV, in complete comfort.

No car break ins, no trolley damage to my car, save on overpriced, petrol, and everything else, all the while enjoying my favorite snacks.

Oh no Taxi's no drunk drivers, no wanna be Schumachers.

All in all, a better experience, to stay home.
 
This is according to multimedia and television journalism lecturer at the Durban University of Technology, Siphumelele Zondi, who added that the expansion of access to Internet connectivity in South Africa means more residents are moving to streaming services.


As a result, cinemas and traditional broadcasters are feeling the pain, with players like Nu Metro looking to diversify their content offerings to adjust to the pressures.
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Tell Mr Zondi, it's the price of the snacks that makes the difference and not necessarily the streaming ....

I stream at home cause the snacks are cheaper.
 
Because this article reminded me that movie theatres still exist, I just went to look at the SterKinekor website to see what my local theatre is showing.

Everything is either a sequel that shouldn't exist, or a rerun or some B grade horror (I'm including the 1 SA film they have in that category).

But okay, they have Deadpool vs Wolverine, I've heard good things about that, lets see what is happening at a 20:30 showing on a Friday .... what used to be prime movie viewing time.

Not a single ticket is sold. Theatre is 100% empty. It is an older movie, so maybe everyone who wants to see it has, so it should be cheap to go watch now. Nope, R140 for 1 ticket. That is a single ticket for a standard run down 2D cinema for a movie that came out months (?) ago. Wtf.

I checked Google TV, and I can BUY (a license to watch) the movie for R140. I can then watch it as much as I like whenever I like with as many other people in the room as I like. And I can get drunk and shout at the screen without being thrown out (again).

Note: I don't actually suggest buying on Google unless it is a last resort. Since they abandoned Google TV and now force you to use YouTube to watch your purchases, the actual stream you get is terrible. ie. Bought Dune 2 from Google, and it lacks Dolby Atmos, and possibly even Dolby Vision. It also originally had this strange double subtitle thing where it had subtitles overlayed on the subtitles. I think they are trying to compete for the theatre a little too closely. I rent from Apple now instead.

In a single picture of Nope

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Cinemas might have been a thing when large TVs were only available for the rich, but they are very commonplace nowadays.
 
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