How Can Movie Theaters Get Away With Advertising False Movie Start Times In Order To Show Ads?

Movies in most theaters normally start about 15 to 20 minutes after their advertised times. The theaters are generating captive audiances in order to show car and cell phone ads as well as promos for other movies the want to sell to their patrons. Local newspapers condone this by advertising these false times as well. Some consumer protection group should do something about this. For as much as I dislike law suits this is a situation which merits class action on behalf of all theater patrons.

How Can Movie Theaters Get Away With Advertising False Movie Start Times In Order To Show Ads?
Call Ralph Nader
Reply:I don't know but it really iritates me to pay 8 bucks to see commercials.





I hate it when on dvd's they won't allow you to by pass the previews and go straight to the menu also.





we all need to start standing out side until they start the actual movie. we can also boycott any business being advertised before movies.
Reply:Oh come off it. It's no grand conspiracy. Newspapers only print what they are paid to - they aren't in on the whole Illuminati conspiracy.





The theater darkens and the entire presentation -- ads, trailers, and the feature -- start *exactly* as advertised.





If you want to strain at gnats, It's called a "show time", not a "feature film starting time."





Since you already KNOW the feature starts 15 minutes into the show, feel welcome to show up when you think the feature will start and grab the front row seats, because those will be all that's left.





But if you push past me and step on my toes and knock over my popcorn, expect me to accidentally spill my entire soda on you. Then you can unsuccessfully try and sue me for that. :-D





Believe it or not, I actually agree with you a bit. I would rather pay an extra $3 a ticket and have zero ads. I can't stand them.
Reply:Someone once sued a chain (Loews, I believe) becuase of the difference between the listed start time and the actual start time. The compensation was not that great, but they became very afraid that the next suit would say that this chain has a habit of starting late. From that point on, they had a disclaimer in their ads that said that the movie would start 10-15 minutes late.





A lot of things start late. I got lost on the way to a symphony concert this afternoon, and I was about fifteen minutes late; they orchestra was still playing the opening piece, which is less than ten minutes long. Obviously, they started the concert late. Some people arrive late, and they still have to buy a ticket, get some refreshments, etc. (I always love the people who are ten minutes late in arriving for a church service, yet the first thing they do is not to find a seat or start paying attention to the service, but to get a bulletin. What are you going to do, read the bulletin during the service? Actually, some of them will do exactly that.)





In a way, it's a courtesy to those who are not late that they don't have to put up with someone walking into the movie right in front of them.





I agree in wishing that they didn't show the ads. My mom's family owned a theatre, and they never showed ads. They did have trailers for upcoming movies, as well as a few other things to delay the start of the feature (e.g., a cartoon, especially on the weekend, or a short subject), but no ads (unless you count the trailers as ads). However, times change. These days, movie distributors take as much as 95% of the box office receipts for a movie in its first week of release. That means that of that $10.00 you paid, the theatre gets fifty cents. That's not a lot. And they have to provide the staff, pay the electric costs and the heat (or air conditioning), etc. They do make money on the concession stand, yes. But they also have to rely on ads to pay them. And why does the distributor charge so much? Because movies cost money. Take a look at those credits--there are a lot of people involved in making a movie, and all of them have to be paid. So, the distributor has to take a huge bite of the early revenues (when people are buying lots of tickets). The theatre does get to keep more money after the movie has been out a while, but by then, fewer people are coming by to see the movie, so they get a bigger percentage of a smaller box office tally.





Anyway, the movie theatre makes little money off the price of admission, so they make it up at the concession stands and by showing ads. The distributor takes a lot of money from admissions, but they have to pay it to the producers so that the costs of making the film can be recovered.





There is one group I wish to exonerate in all this, and that is the newspapers. The newspapers actually sell the space to the theatres as ads. It is sold by the inch. If a theatre chooses not to advertize its movies in the paper, that's their decision. What runs in that ad is what the theatre says to run. If the theatre wants to say that the movie starts at 9:30, even though it actually starts at 9:47, the newspaper will print what the theatre tells them to print, even if they know it is not the truth. It is an ad, and the ad says what the purchaser of the ad wants it to say.
Reply:Most people know that they start later than it says, it just gives you time to get there, get some sweets, get sat down etc without missing the start of the film. It's sort of a 'aim for this time cos if you're later than it you'll miss it'. Noone's forcing you to sit and watch the adverts.