Do you enjoy going to the cinema? Yes, I hear you say. I love it!
Times to enjoy
Going to the movies is special for many people in many cultures. Often, the experience of hanging out with friends, choosing what to watch, getting a huge box of popcorn and watching a film with lots of other people makes this a really fun event. Sharing moments of excitement as you watch action movies, getting frightened together watching a horror movie or laughing with friends at a comedy really connects people and makes great memories.
Hard times
But the last few years have been difficult for the cinema. They were hit harder than many businesses when hundreds of thousands across the world had to close because of the health crisis. This was on top of the challenges that cinemas were already facing, with young people preferring to watch at home on streaming services such as Netflix or watch YouTube videos on their smartphones.
New watching trends
Streaming services benefited from people being at home and they got millions more viewers during the pandemic, but this was already happening. In the last five years, the amount of traditional television that teens watch has halved, and the percentage of 12– 18-year-olds that watch videos online daily has more than doubled. The big TV in the living room is being used less and less and the idea of a shared experience around a show or film is slowly becoming a thing of the past – in the home at least.
The technology
Ask a teenager today how they watch films or their favourite shows and not many will say television, and if they do, they don’t mean television in the traditional sense. Young people watch YouTube videos and stream films and TV series at a time that is convenient to them, on screens that are getting smaller, and it doesn’t matter where. They might use a laptop in a bedroom, a tablet on the sofa or a mobile phone on the bus or at school.
The research
All of this is good news for streaming services, but is it bad news for the cinema? Are teenagers today so in love with their devices that they won’t go to their local multiplex? The answer may surprise you because it’s a big loud "no!". In a recent survey, teenagers in the UK were asked to name the leisure activity they had missed the most while at home during the health emergency. The cinema (62%) was by far the most popular answer with going to cafes and restaurants (18%), concerts (14%) and theme parks (4%) far behind.
The future
There are many reasons for the popularity of the cinema with teenagers despite the demand for streaming services. Some of the reasons given in the survey included watching a film with friends, getting something to eat and drink before or after the film and talking about new films together. Teenagers are watching more videos on smaller screens, and this is great, but if they get an invitation to the cinema, it’s not one they are usually going to turn down!
Sources: bbfc.co.uk; bbc.com; geckotheatre.co.nz; edweek.org; nytimes.com
Disclaimer: Original article taken from a Linguahouse workheet. It has been published for the sole use of making it easier to read on a mobile in class.
© Linguahouse.com. Photocopiable and licensed for use in Caledonian English's lessons.
Comments