[Press Release – Analyst Rpt.]

by Charlotte Jones

UK cinema admissions in the first six months of 2011 rose by a slight 0.7 per cent to hit 80.7m up from 80.1m in the same period in 2010, according to data from the CAA/BFI. The minor incremental rise comes in contrast to a corresponding 3.3 per cent drop in total box office revenues to £499.7m (UK and Ireland) for the period to 30 June 2011, according to data provided by Rentrak EDI.  The decline can be directly traced to fewer tickets sold to higher priced 3D movies, despite a rise in the number of 3D titles released.

In terms of performance, admissions in Q2 rose by 2.7 per cent over the previous year’s tally, which helped counter a small 0.7 per cent decline in the first three months of the year (Q1). June registered the largest monthly increase, up by 45.5 per cent on June 2010 as ground was easily made on a month which featured the major audience distraction of the FIFA World Cup 2010. February recorded the highest monthly total of 2011 to date with over 17m cinema admissions. Best performing title was UK production The King’s Speech, first released in January by Momentum.  Its low opening weekend proportion at just 7.7 per cent of total revenues showed how Academy Award nominations sustained its performance.

Our Take

While the average price of a cinema ticket in the UK rose substantially by 9.3 per cent to £5.95 in full year 2010, IHS Screen Digest estimates that the average UK cinema ticket price has since rationalised down to £5.63 in H1 2010, or equivalent to a 5.7 per cent drop in the year to date. This is purely based on 3D taking a smaller slice of the overall market, rather than any major drop in 3D prices.

In the full year 2010, 3D accounted for 27.5 per cent of total box office revenues in the UK and Ireland, according to IHS Screen Digest analysis from Rentrak EDI data, although this total includes 2010 calendar year revenues from late 2009 release Avatar. Not including Avatar, this total would equate to around 24 per cent.

3D-only box office revenues fell by a steep 24.0 per cent to hit just over £100m in H1 2011 (data to 3 July 2011), including £9.6m generated from 2010 holdovers. 3D as a proportion of total box office in the UK and Ireland equated to just under 21 per cent during H1 2011, versus 27.1 per cent in H1 2010 confirming that UK audiences, too, had a smaller appetite for 3D versions of movie releases.

For example, 3D titles generated an average 64.3 per cent of total box office from 3D screens in first six months of 2011 compared with an average 82.3 per cent 3D revenue split in H1 2010, including Imax 3D grosses. However, the first six months of 2010 did include several niche genre 3D movies such as UK production Streetdance 3D as well as several limited 3D-only releases such as re-issue of Toy Story in 3D, which both have a stronger affinity with 3D as a concept, and they also have a lower overall box office total.

In 2011, a run of similar genre titles released in 3D, notably in the super hero and action adventure category, may have exacerbated a trend towards increasing discernment of 3D that was already apparent at end 2010, which also arose from the sheer volume as well as dubious quality of 3D movies coming on stream. The top performing title on UK 3D screens (by 3D revenues) in H1 2011 was Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. At H1 2011, there were 1,345 3D screens in the UK, according to data from IHS Screen Digest, equivalent to over 35 per cent of total UK screens.

In comparison in North America, 3D amounted to just 18.3 per cent of total box office in H1 2011, down from a 21.1 per cent contribution in the same period 2010. Likewise, total revenues generated from 3D only screens fell 21 per cent to $937.3m in the first six months of 2011, according to IHS Screen Digest analysis.

See the original post here: http://www.screendigest.com/news/uk_cinema_admissions_edged_up_in_h1_2011_but_3d_loses_market_share/view.html