Friday, Aug. 19, 2005 10:31 a.m. EDT
Hollywood Bigs Avoiding Movie Ads in Papers
Movie studios are planning to sharply cut back on advertising with the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and other big-city dailies – because the young people who largely fill theater seats don't read them.
"We're rethinking our newspaper ads and I mean, literally, on every movie. Everybody is," one movie mogul told LA Weekly.
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"The only people who read newspapers are older and elitist."
According to the Motion Picture Association, Americans age 12 to 39 accounted for 57 percent of total moviegoers last year, while the 40-to-59 group comprised only 31 percent and 60-plus moviegoers just 12 percent.
But the figures for newspaper readership are the reverse: People 35 to 54 years old are the biggest readers of daily papers, followed by those 55 and over, according to The Scarborough Research Top 50 Market Report.
Far fewer readers are 25 to 34, and very few are under 25. The ad cutback comes at a bad time for the NYT and LAT, which receive a large share of the movie industry's $100,000-plus full-page movie display ads.
What's more, both papers have recently expanded entertainment coverage in an attempt to lure more movie advertising, according to LA Weekly, which refers to the papers as "newsosaurs."
But two Hollywood studios are axing their movie display ads "as soon as possible," LA Weekly reports.
"All advertisers dearly love the 18-to-34 demographic, and the Hollywood movie studios are no exception. In their eyes, the newsosaurs aren't measuring up." |
