(Continued on Page 6) Cyprus Has New TV Station Cyprus launched a new national free-to-air television channel, Extra TV. The channel was converted from a regional to a national station, bringing the number of terrestrial channels on the island to 10, and with digital TV broadcasts expected to begin later in the year, the number of island-wide terrestrial channels will surely increase. Still, the launch of this latest channel makes Cyprus one of the most crowded TV and radio markets in the European Union. Extra TV is the first national station to operate out of Limassol, one of Cyprus’ largest cities. The channel airs soap operas, Greek sitcoms and the news, as well as content from Athensbased Alter Network. It joins CyBC, Mega, Ant 1, Sigma, LTV, Alfa, Plus and ERT, the national broadcaster. In addition to national networks, every city on the island now has an independent local channel transmitting on UHF. Niche market stations have increased in popularity over the past several years as well. Hotel Nixes Adult Videos Marriott International will no longer provide access to adult videos in new hotel rooms that open in the coming years. The hotel group’s decision reflects the evolution of entertainment technology, and the fact that adult movies are no longer as profitable as they used to be. Instead, Internet-based video-ondemand systems will replace traditional video systems, which provided access to adult content via menu selection in the past. Revenue from pay-per-view movies in hotel rooms has decreased over the years, as individuals traveling on business have increasingly brought their own entertainment in the form of laptops, iPods and Netflix DVDs as technology has evolved. Colliers PKF HospitalityResearch reports that hotels currently earn 39 percent fewer dollars from pay-per-view movie rentals than they did 10 years ago. On average, a hotel now collects approximately U.S.$175 per room each year, which is down from $288 in 2000. U.S. Movies Get Kinetic Worldwide According to a report recently released by the Motion Picture Association of America, global box office receipts for films released in 2010 totaled $31.8 billion, marking an increase of eight percent from 2009. Although ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada remained steady at $10.6 billion last year, revenue overseas rocketed in 2010 with a 13 percent increase over 2009. Latin America and the Asia Pacific region registered the largest growth, with a 25 percent increase in box office receipts in Latin America and a 21 percent increase in the Asia Pacific region. Together, the two regions accounted for $10.8 billion in 2010 box office revenue. China made up more than 40 percent of the Asia Pacific region’s box office revenue. For the first time ever, Europe, the Middle East and Africa combined accounted for less than half of all international ticket sales at $10.4 billion. One troublesome finding was that, although the overall number of people who went to the movies in 2010 was up three percent from 2009, the number of movies that each person saw decreased from 6.5 in 2009 to six in 2010. This means that the number of tickets sold in the U.S. and Canada fell to 1.34 billion, down five percent from 2009. This somewhat troubling figure is the same number of tickets sold in 2008, representing an unwelcome repeat of history. It’s possible that this reduction is due to the fact that many people can now watch movies on large screen televisions in the comfort of their own homes. Another contributing factor could be ticket prices, which in 2010 totaled an average price of U.S.$7.89 throughout the country (peaking at $13 in cities like New York). This is up $.39 from 2009. However, 3D movies are drawing crowds, accounting for $2.2 billion, or 21 percent, of the total $31.8 billion in box office revenue. In fact, one out of three individuals in the U.S. and Canada saw a 3D movie last year. breakthroughentertainment.com Nat Abraham, Vice President, Distribution t 416.366.6588 x 114 e nabraham@breakthroughentertainment.com Kate Blank, Sales Executive t 416.366.6588 x 234 e kblank@breakthroughentertainment.com Laura Lemyk, Sales Executive t 416.366.6588 x 133 e llemyk@breakthroughentertainment.com V I D E O • A G E AP R I L 2 0 1 1 4
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