Originally Posted by just_because
I don't know much about this industry but here are my observations (right or wrong). I don't look at assigned seating in isolation but rather as part of a bigger need to change.
The experience of going to the movies has changed very little since the beginning of time and theaters need to evolve to keep up with all the other entertainment options. Just about everyone with disposable income has big screens at home with nearly unlimited entertainment options at their fingertips. Attention spans are getting shorter and people want to do/watch/listen to what they want when they want to do it. And for the younger generation and many others, watching the 'big screen' at home is even outdated as they favor their ipads where they can watch what they want in privacy and without having to agree on anything with other people in the family.
Other leisure options like going to the mall or going to a restaurant have evolved to entertain people more and to take them out of realities of real life with its boredom, stress and other problems where you can just have fun and feel like you've 'gotten away'. Many stores have evolved to focus on the experience of visiting as much as the clothes they sell (Hollister, etc). Music has been revolutionized of course too. When I was a teenager in a good month I had money to buy 2-3 CDs. And that was often for one or two songs that I liked on each CD. So about $45-50 per month for say 6 songs that i really wanted. Now kids have nearly unlimited song libraries at their fingertips with Spotify, etc and they listen to what they want when they want to. With youtube they watch whatever videos they want when they want. Even the iTunes concept of buying an mp3 song for $1 has become quickly outdated. While I used to treasure my CD collection many years ago as a teen, the perceived value of a song or an 'album' has been slashed to bits.
While the formulas for nearly all things in life has changed significantly, the experience of going to the movies has not. I think many people have a touch of nostalgia for getting a tub of popcorn and going to the film for the sake of the film alone, this is not enough to sustain the industry as a whole. Many years ago movie theaters have gone from one or two screens to many in one complex and theater complexes have got marginally more glitzy but overall the formula, the facilities and the overall experience are tired and out of step with today's entertainment preferences.
So what does this have to do with assigned seating. I'm not really sure but theaters need to change their formula to try to compete in an environment of fast moving entertainment choices that are increasingly interactive and social. I think theaters have two main choices -
1. evolve into multi-media entertainment complexes with many various options across film, video, music, gaming, dining, drinking, etc. Figuring out how to make the experience interactive utilizing mobile/social, etc. In this scenario, the traditional 2 hour movie concept is not the main event (or not involved at all in the experience) and seeing a 2 hour movie in a theater as we know it today becomes niche or dies over time in favor of multi-media meeting places.
2. The other opposite direction of travel (and I think less likely formula for success) is for movie theaters is to continue to make the film the 'main event' of a trip to the theater and to have any chance of success in this model, theaters will need to increase the perceived value of the experience since the perceived value of all entertainment has reduced through 'all you can eat' models for films (netflix, etc) and music (Spotify, etc) and loads of free content available (pirated, youtube, etc). If your formula depends on getting people out of their homes, off their ipads and phones and committing to sit in a sit for two hours you better make it feel like a 'special' experience. Without realizing it, I think people place a higher value on a seat that's assigned. Some budget airlines don't assign seats but full priced ones do. Many amateur and school sporting events don's assign seats but the 'big events' certainly do. In cafeterias and fast food restaurants you are presented with a sea of tables that you choose yourself. In nice restaurants and bars, you are shown to your seat which is largely the choice of the host.
Assigned seating is also a natural precursor and prerequisite to different tiers of seating (cheap seats and more comfortable better positioned ones).
I think the strategy of trying to get customers to put a higher value on the two hour film concept is a losing battle and theaters and the movie industry should go in the other direction toward multi-media meeting places. There will long be some demand for a traditional two hour movie as an art form but this demand will become more and more niche.
That said, reading novels (in paper or electronic format) seems to be as popular as ever and appear to have little problem competing with the millions of seemingly more contemporary entertainment options.
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