[Source: Jinan Daily] The just-concluded live broadcast of Olympic TV programs in theaters is the first live broadcast of a large-scale sports event in my country that has received official authorization, overseas high-definition signal transmission, copyrighted screening in thea

[Source: Jinan Daily]

The just-concluded live broadcast of Olympic TV programs in theaters is the first live broadcast of a large-scale sports event in my country that has received official authorization, overseas high-definition signal transmission, copyrighted screening in theaters, and box office box office statistics. It has been well received by the public. General concern. In addition to watching the Olympics, many theaters have tried to find diversified breakthroughs in box office in recent years. As a result, listening to concerts, eating hot pot, and even holding e-sports competitions in theaters have become new attempts.

Audiences watched the Paris Olympics table tennis match in the cinema

As soon as the news was released that the live broadcast of the Olympics could be watched in the cinema, the term "watching the Olympics in the cinema" quickly became a hot search topic. This is not what everyone is used to watching sports events on TV at home or on a big screen in public places such as bars. Instead, it can be watched on big screens in multiple theaters across the country. Invite a few friends to watch the event together. It has both a sense of atmosphere and a sense of presence, which is especially suitable for young audiences. Moreover, the playback content has high-quality audio-visual effects suitable for the theater environment. This has also attracted various theaters to be eager to try it. During the 2024 Paris Olympics, many theaters in Jinan also participated in this live broadcast event and achieved good box office results.

It is reported that the "Watching the Olympics in Cinemas" live broadcast event is jointly created by China Central Radio and Television and China Film. All theaters that have joined the China Film Comprehensive Business Service Platform to make reservations for screenings and whose cinema network meets the standards can sign up to participate. The program signal for the live broadcast of the Olympic Games into theaters comes from CCTV, up to 4k standard. Considering that the picture quality required for display on the big screen is higher, the signal rate broadcast in theaters is also higher compared with signals broadcast on other network platforms. The success of this live broadcast event also provides experience and models for cinemas to develop various value-added services in the future.

In the past, everyone watched the Olympic Games through TV. You may have to activate the function of a set-top box or Internet TV first, but then everything is free. "Watching the Olympic Games in a theater" costs about the same as watching a movie. Therefore, before the event started, many theater managers were unsure. Some theater managers said that the purpose of participating in this movie value-added service is, on the one hand, to attract more people to come, thereby driving sales of items; on the other hand, It is also a manifestation of differentiated competition in cinemas. Statistics from the Beacon Professional Edition show that the live broadcast of Olympic events in theaters across the country in 2024 achieved a total box office of 2.44 million yuan, including July 30 (table tennis mixed doubles final) and August 3 (table tennis women’s singles bronze medal and final) , August 4 (table tennis men’s singles final), August 9 (table tennis men’s team final), these four games achieved box office results of 1.12 million yuan, 460,000 yuan, 275,000 yuan, and 204,000 yuan respectively.

Some people in the industry said that this is still far from the original expectations, and from the box office point of view, this is indeed not a big business for theaters, and it is possible to get movies at such a box office. However, many people in the industry believe that this attempt to live broadcast the Olympic Games in theaters cannot be judged only in terms of box office. What is more important is that the theaters participating in the live broadcast have a new image among the audience. It can be seen that the value-added film business has increased theater income. quantity reflected.

In recent years, due to various reasons, the movie market has been relatively sluggish, and the profits of many theaters have been worrying. To this end, many theaters have launched new attempts at cross-border integration and explored new ways to play in space. In addition to broadcasting sports events and holding e-sports competitions, various performances such as musicals and talk shows are staged in the cinema; various business formats such as catering, doll hunting, and electronic games are stationed in the movie space to provide comprehensive services to the audience. A cinema in Chengdu even tried eating hot pot in the cinema. Judging from the photos posted by netizens, the steaming hot pot matches the movie scenes, and the atmosphere is full under dim lights.

Some of these services have been recognized by everyone, and some have also caused controversy. For example, some theaters previously launched lunch break services, which caused some controversy and believed that there would be safety risks; and some concerts held in theaters were also complained about "poor sound effects."

Industry insiders said that in "Cinema+", attention should be paid to avoiding "hard crossover" and the integrated content should conform to the public's consumption habits. Movies are always the core of cinemas and the foundation of the entire film industry. In the future, "Cinema+" cannot be limited to entertainment consumption experience, but can also add more new ways of playing, allowing theaters to gradually get rid of a single form that relies entirely on movie box office and become a cross-border space for offline composite audio-visual entertainment.(Jinan Daily reporter: Zhang Xiaohan)