Movie Theaters Cut Print Show Times as Web Gains

In this photo made Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009 the movie listings in that day's edition of The Washington...

In this photo made Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009 the movie listings in that day's edition of The Washington Post are shown in Washington. Kansas City-based movie theater chain AMC pulled its listings from The Post last month, prompting the newspaper's ombudsman, Andrew Alexander, to deflect readers' ire in his blog. (AP Photo/Kevin Vineys)

(AP)

Filmgoers who have long turned to the local newspaper to find theaters and show times for movies may have to start looking elsewhere as theater chains rethink the value of paper and ink in a digital age.

The top two U.S. chains, Regal Entertainment Group and AMC Entertainment Inc., have begun in recent months to reduce or eliminate the small-type listings showing the start times for movies at individual theaters. Theaters typically must pay newspapers to print that information.

Looking to cut costs, the theater chains are instead directing consumers to their Internet sites or third-party sites, like Fandango, Moviefone or Flixster, which offer those listings for free and make money from the fees they charge for selling advance tickets to movies. Many of those sites also feature film reviews and movie trailers.

The effort may be gaining some traction, as U.S. Internet traffic to AMC's Web site rose 21 percent in July compared with a year ago, according to comScore Inc., while visits to Regal's Web site were up 18 percent.

The Newspaper Association of America doesn't track revenue that newspapers generate from print movie listings, but believes the amount is relatively small. Yet every dollar counts as newspapers are forced to cut staff, reduce the frequency of print editions or even close completely amid the recession.

And readers have come to expect such listings. Seeing them curtailed or disappear could give them yet another reason to abandon their subscriptions.

"For a reader, some things that are ads are actually considered news," said Mort Goldstrom, the NAA's vice president of advertising. "Ads for concerts and things at clubs, for restaurants and movies — that's a reason people read."

He said the pullback in listings will hurt theaters by reducing their visibility among potential customers, sending those dollars to competitors that still buy listings or to other sources of entertainment like plays or clubs.