Recently, PVR INOX launched an ad-free movies policy in select luxury screens across Delhi, Gurugram, Bengaluru and Mumbai, amid declining theatre footfalls. Also, it is believed that weak box-office collections of even the big-budget films have affected the theatre business in the last quarter. 

Cutting down the length of the ads slotted before a movie from 35 minutes to 10 minutes, the theatre chain is looking to add extra shows. Can this practice actually increase footfalls? Will it change the experience for moviegoers in any way? Will the time buffer that these ads allow audiences to reach the cinemas, render it counter-intuitive?

“One of the things that the consumers expressed is that when they get in, they have to wait 15-20 minutes as a pre-show. So, they’d like it if the ad time was a bit shorter. Another set of audience expressed that they don’t mind if we scrapped the ads and charge them a little more. We aim to get the right balance between the number of ads playing and the overall experience,” says Gautam Dutta, CEO-Revenue and Operations, PVR INOX Limited, adding, “We will see if people will pay a little extra for a more premium experience, or if we are able to get one extra show in.”

Negating the query that they will anytime adopt the no-ad policy and emphasising the value of ad revenue, Devang Sampat, CEO, Cinepolis, shares: “In the past, advertisers looked at blockbusters, but that is changing. They’re now advertising throughout the year, no matter how well the movie performs.”

Addressing the reasoning for such a step being footfall, he continues, “Footfalls are only improving every year. You never know which film would work. So, advertisers and brands are now looking at continuing campaigns running round the year.”

On the other hand, Rajan Gupta, owner, Liberty Cinema, says, “At Liberty, we haven’t been showing ads for years. We are anti-ads. I am really surprised that it has taken them this long to figure it out. You might be making money from ads, but it is taking away from the viewers’ experience.”

The high-end properties where this has been announced have tickets priced at around Rs. 1,500, so ad revenue is a fraction of the revenue that comes to the cinemas. But for theatres where the price of tickets is Rs. 150-200, if there are no advertisements, it becomes infeasible for the projection systems to be deployed and ticket cost to be justified. For this larger demographic, 10-15 minutes of advertisements don’t really spoil the movie-going experience.

Akshaye Rathi, film exhibitor: If you really have a flow of great movies that can entertain, no one cares about ads or no ads. In the last few months, there has been a decrease in footfall because of the inconsistency in the quality of content. Give me a Jawan, Pathaan, Gadar or The Kerala Story every second week, and the footfalls will skyrocket.

Girish Johar, producer and film trade analyst: The issue on ground is that this is happening only in the metros. They will ask for an extra amount on the ticket price for this premium offering. It’s a good marketing tool to be explored, but it should give them a couple of hours to add another show on their screens.