Digital Cinema - The Perfect Solution For A Problem That Doesn't Exist!

The reason for digital cinema has, and is still, the film print and distribution cost savings that would accure to the studios if movies where distributed and presented digitally vs. being film based ( I have heard estimates as high as $1 billion/year). But, is this reason as compelling as some would have us believe. Based upon screen count, as reported by The National Assoc. of Theatre Owners' 2005/06 Encyclopedia of Exhibition, total screens in the U.S. were 31,474 as detailed below:
National Mega Chains (over 1,000 screens) - 16,895
Large Chains (500-1,000) - 2,097
Regional Large Chains (225-500) - 4,455
Medium Circuits (75-225) - 3,557
Small Circuits (15-75) - 2,528
Independents (15 & under) - 1,942
This 6 tiered breakdown (which I arbitrarily decided upon) depicts accurate figures for the large chains and circuits, but ( I believe) are off by 10-15% at the medium circuits and below. As, for example, many of our independent exhibitor clients are not in the NATO listing. However, what the data shows is that screens are devided about equally between the mega chains (which are only 5 in number) and everyone else.

With approximately 33,000 screens in the U.S. even if all these screens were converted to digital presentation, as there are about 160,000 screens worldwide, that would leave about 125,000 to 130,000 screens still film based. The question then becomes, why the push to convert the U.S. at a current cost of $70,00 to $100,000 per auditorium.

Jim Lavorato, April 2006