Good News or Bad News Poll? Majority of Americans Are Ditching Movie Theaters
It’s well-worn territory that Hollywood is not in the healthiest shape these days.
Last year was an especially rough year for the industry, and while 2024 has had a gem or two thus far, it’s been more bad news than good.
Now, Hollywood is getting a brutal dose of reality thanks to a new poll from HarrisX, reported by the film industry website IndieWire.
That poll found that a meager 34 percent of U.S. adults prefer going to theaters to watch movies.
Conversely, that effectively means a whopping 66 percent of those polled preferred streaming a movie from home.
“The competition continues between streaming services and the Hollywood engine,” said HarrisX VP Alli Brady, according to Indiewire. “While we still see evidence of loyal moviegoers in recent box office numbers, our study shows that 2 in 3 movie watchers prefer to stream movies at home.
“Despite this causing some upheaval for the industry, it also means that the demand for content is only increasing – nearly half of consumers say they stream movies weekly, more than [seven times] as frequently as those who do so in theaters.”
This likely stems from a similar issue that live sporting events currently are dealing with.
Here are two options, you choose the one that sounds better:
- Drive out to the location, find parking, purchase a ticket, purchase a small bit of food for $40, potentially sit next to someone you don’t want to, wait in line at the bathroom, then drive home.
- Stay home with your 75-inch television with surround sound and home-cooked popcorn. No bathroom lines.
Yes, obviously it’s not all that idyllic, but it does seem that both sports and movies are grappling with the significant issue that many Americans have quality home entertainment systems, and prefer convenience.
It goes without saying that this HarrisX poll is bad news for Hollywood … but does it spell bad news for society at large, as well?
Look, to quote the legendary Obi-Wan Kenobi, “You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy” than Hollywood, so its suffering is generally our gain.
But these poll results also highlight a similarly grim issue: The continued disassociation of Americans.
Theaters, for all of their pricey faults, are still a communal experience.
Instead of engaging in that, however, American adults evidently strongly prefer the isolation of their personal domiciles.
It’s difficult not to shake the feeling that this is downriver from the rather noticeable issue that Americans are terminally online — and have substituted digital letters on a screen for actual human contact.
Americans are more isolated from others than they’ve ever been, and it’s a root cause of many of this country’s ills.
So while it’s easy to see a poll like this, nod along and not think twice about it (or perhaps even snicker at Hollywood), it portends a far bigger issue than just Americans preferring to “Netflix and chill.”
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