Hindi film audiences slump

Cinema audiences in India have yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels, but while overall figures in 2022 stood around 87% of 2019 levels, the equivalent for Hindi cinema was just 55%.

By the numbers 

• Total cinema audiences reached 892 million (across all languages) in 2022, compared to 1.03 billion in 2019, according to figures from media consulting firm Ormax, reported by Mint. 
• Hindi cinema audiences fell to 189 million in 2022, down from 341 million in 2019.
• Telugu cinema audiences jumped to 233 million in 2022 from 182 million in 2019.

Why it matters

Rising ticket prices and fewer new releases are factors in lower cinema attendance. Alongside those are the changed behaviours, wrought by the pandemic, when people turned to in-home entertainment. And now, when they can expect to see a new film on a streaming platform within a couple of months, there’s less pressure to catch it in the cinema. It’s a shift that has implications for both movie marketers and media planners. 

Key quote

“The footfalls totally depend on the kind of experience they are getting from a film. OTT has never been a competition when it comes to experience-led content, but for smaller films, people are showing the tendency to wait and watch unless they hear terrific word-of-mouth” – Ashish Kanakia, chief executive of MovieMax Cinemas.

Sourced from Mint