Disney beats earnings and revenue estimates on ad rates and theme parks

This is another thing that makes me question how it is that the economy is really hurting that badly. The markets are being completely irrational. There was the crash on Monday, the partial recovery yesterday, and then back down today. Disney is down almost 9% today on this news.

+1 - Don't get me started on the Markets.

The only reason why revenues are up is due them constantly raising the price of admission.

Ell oh Ell.

Jeff said:
This is another thing that makes me question how it is that the economy is really hurting that badly. The markets are being completely irrational. There was the crash on Monday, the partial recovery yesterday, and then back down today. Disney is down almost 9% today on this news.

In terms of the economy, some places are doing real well. But, like we've had for the past 10 years, some places are doing really poorly as well. Reading between the lines, ESPN did well as did in park spending. ESPN would fair somewhat better in these times, as people who do not have money may be more likely to stay at home and watch TV. Park prices for Florida / CA, well, they've gone up. The film side hurting. That also could be a sign of the times / economy. The last movie I went to go see, I was one of 3 in the theatre.

Box office is just Disney. They just don't have a hit every quarter. Overall, the movie industry was up significantly in '09, then flat for '10. They're trending up for this year.

Not that it really matters (money is still money), but is the movie industry up only in dollars, or also up in tickets sold?

I'm not sure... ticket prices seemed to be in line with inflation, or slightly below, the last few years (I can't remember where I saw these stats). I'm not sure why 2009 saw such a huge jump, but it might be because of Avatar.

I was curious as what impact, if any, all the higher priced 3D & IMAX ticket sales had.

Good question. The stats I'm recalling didn't have any breakdown, so I would have to assume that overall the ticket count wouldn't see the same growth.

djDaemon said:
I was curious as what impact, if any, all the higher priced 3D & IMAX ticket sales had.

I do not have the reference in front of me, but in general, 3D has helped on the international scene but not had a huge impact on the domestic scene in attendance. It seems that US audiences, in general, are not interested in paying more for the 3D effect of a movie and / or they do not want to sit with glasses on throughout the movie.

Walt S said:

djDaemon said:
I was curious as what impact, if any, all the higher priced 3D & IMAX ticket sales had.

I do not have the reference in front of me, but in general, 3D has helped on the international scene but not had a huge impact on the domestic scene in attendance. It seems that US audiences, in general, are not interested in paying more for the 3D effect of a movie and / or they do not want to sit with glasses on throughout the movie.

Found it:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/30/business/media/30panda.html

Walt S said:

djDaemon said:
I was curious as what impact, if any, all the higher priced 3D & IMAX ticket sales had.

I do not have the reference in front of me, but in general, 3D has helped on the international scene but not had a huge impact on the domestic scene in attendance. It seems that US audiences, in general, are not interested in paying more for the 3D effect of a movie and / or they do not want to sit with glasses on throughout the movie.

Here's a second reference talking about Imax. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jul/26/business/la-fi-ct-imax-20110726

djDaemon said:
Not that it really matters (money is still money), but is the movie industry up only in dollars, or also up in tickets sold?

I don't have the data for 2011 available, but for 2010 (http://www.mpaa.org/Resources/93bbeb16-0e4d-4b7e-b085-3f41c459f9ac.pdf), raw attendance numbers were down while box office was up. Ticket prices went up by about 5%. Generally, this is the trend that has been present since around 2002, give or take a few peaks and valleys.

Wow. A double self-quote quad-post... I think that may be a first!

More difficult than a Triple Lindy.

Well, he's no Thornton Mellon.

Jeff said:
Good question. The stats I'm recalling didn't have any breakdown, so I would have to assume that overall the ticket count wouldn't see the same growth.

2011 Summer Movie Attendance Was the Lowest Since 1997
A few data points from the article:

- 2011 US box office revenue up by less than 1% over 2010

- This is the 4th consecutive summer for decreased attendance

- International ticket sales & revenue are making up for decreased sales & revenue in the US

- Q1 ticket sales were down 20%; year-to-date sales are down 4%

- The majority of summer ticket revenue is attributed to 3 sequels/franchises: Transformers, Harry Potter & Pirates.

That's kind of interesting. This is why I'm watching Kevin Smith's actions around Red State so carefully. Here's a guy who shoots a film with little commercial appeal (by his estimation) on a shoe string budget, does a tour with it including his Q&A schtick, then does VOD (I really need to check it out soon), and eventually does a live event to more theaters. Video release eventually. And unlike most films, it's profitable. Seems like a better way to do business than rely on a few hits to support the losers.