Cinema visits fell by 10.4% last year. If the decline continues, there are concerns, experts say.
Despite the competition, visits to Norwegian and European cinemas had been relatively stable in recent years, but last year they declined,wrote Klassekampen newspaper. After a record year in 2016, cinema visits declined by 10.4% in 2017, which is not only bad news for theatres,but also for movie makers.
“The film industry has become so dependent on revenue from cinemas that it is very vulnerable to changes in the cinema market. The figures had, for the time being, been good, but it may change, and then there will be dramatic results for Norwegian film revenues,” said Terje Gaustad, Associate Professor at the Department of Communication and Culture at BI Norwegian Business School.
During the past decade, DVD sales have fallen while people have switched to streaming services, but these account for only 2% of the revenue for Norwegian films. Another challenge is that young people between the ages of 16 and 24 are going less often to the cinema. By the year 2000, young Norwegians went to the cinema approximately ten times a year on average.
By 2016, this was down to 4.3 visits.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
