Ziegfeld Theatre

Although as I told you on Saturday Bill, I really regret not having gone to Porgy & Bess. I missed out bigtime, regardless of cost. But then, that falls with my past statements about the movie not being from the current crop of crap which I have no interest in paying $12 for.

If the Ziegfeld loses a million dollars a year, I hope Clearview/Cablevision makes enough money elsewhere to offset that. To quote “Citizen Kane”, a movie I thoroughly enjoyed seeing at the Ziegfeld, “I did lose a million dollars last year. I expect to lose a million dollars this year. I expect to lose a million dollars NEXT year. You know, Mr. Thatcher, at the rate of a million dollars a year, I’ll have to close this place in … sixty years.”

I realize it’s hard for out-of-towners like Jeff to get to the Ziegfeld, but everything’s relative. As someone who lives or works in or near NYC, it’s more expensive for me to attend a show at the Lafayette when you factor in the cost of a train ticket. But the Lafayette is a true cinema treasure, so it’s more than worth it. Same goes for the Ziegfeld.

The kids, seniors, early birds and discount ticket programs bring the average price down significantly. Manhattan has a higher average due to the limited effect of those categories.

Compare the Ziegfeld to the Odeon Leicester Square in London and you will find $12 a real bargain. They get around $36 for an adult yet New Yorkers still complain.

Back when the Ziegfeld charged six dollars people still complained.
Remember Mayor Koch at the picket lines?

Peters numbers prove my point ,i only went back 20 years but the last 6 years of tickets are the highest ATTENDANCE in the last 50 years!

Here is some historical data regarding numbers of tickets sold:

Year – Box Office Gross – Avg. Ticket Price – #’s Sold

1930 – 732 million – .20/ticket – 3.66 billion tickets sold
1935 – 566 million – .24/ticket – 2.39 billion tickets sold
1940 – 735 million – .28/ticket – 2.62 billion tickets sold
1945 – 1,450 million – .34/ticket – 4.264 billion tickets sold
1950 – 1,376 million – .48/ticket – 2.86 billion tickets sold
1955 – 1326 million – .52/ticket – 2.55 billion tickets sold
1960 – 951 million – .69/ticket – 1.38 billion tickets sold
1965 – 927 million – 1.02/ticket – 909 million tickets sold
1970 – 1,162 million – 1.55/ticket – 750 million tickets sold
1975 – 2,115 million – 2.05/ticket – 1.03 billion tickets sold
1980 – 2,749 million – 2.60/ticket – 1.06 billion tickets sold
1985 – 3,749 million – 3.55/ticket – 1.06 billion tickets sold
1990 – 5,022 million – 4.23/ticket – 1.19 billion tickets sold
1995 – 5,490 million – 4.35/ticket – 1.26 billion tickets sold
2000 – 7,670 million – 5.39/ticket – 1.40 billion tickets sold
2001 – 8,410 million – 5.65/ticket – 1.49 billion tickets sold
2002 – 9,520 million – 5.80/ticket – 1.64 billion tickets sold
2003 – 9,490 million – 6.03/ticket – 1.57 billion tickets sold
2004 – 9,540 million – 6.21/ticket – 1.54 billion tickets sold
2005 – 8,990 million – 6.40/ticket – 1.40 billion tickets sold
2006 – 9,490 million – 6.58/ticket – 1.44 billion tickets sold

LAST 20 YEAR BOX IN ATTENDANCE #1 BEING BEST YEAR
1.2002
2.2003
3.2004
4.2001
5.1998
6.1999
7.2000
8.2006
9.1997
10.2005
11.1996
12.1994
13.1989
14.1995
15.1993
16.1984
17.1983
18.1990
19.1982
20.1992

i am using the last 50 years….

Longislandmovies… are we really in a top 10 trend these last two years in terms of attendance? Or is it in terms of box office dollars? It is my understanding that in 1946, weekly movie attendance in this country peaked at about 90 million patrons! To your point, the industry is still raking it in, but I think its in terms of revenue as opposed to seats being filled. In the final analysis, I suppose, the revenue is the bottom line. But I’d love to see inflation-adjusted comparisons of the revenues in those peak attendance years of the 1940’s to revenues in the last couple of years.

“Sounds to me like Jeff S. needs to open up his own theater and charge $6 admission to all and $ dollar soft drinks and candies for everyone. We’ll see how long that theater stays in business. :–)”

No, that’s not the case at all. My only topic is “it’s too expensive”. I don’t care about the high rent district, the politics, the subsidies, the anything. $12 is just too high. It is what is killing the industry. G R E E D.

It doesn’t matter if anyone agrees with me or not. It’s my opinion.

Interesting, then. When we saw Clearview’s books a few years ago (when we were looking to acquire them), the Ziegfeld showed the operating loss I mentioned above, which was also confirmed independently. Glad things have improved since then.

petter my ofiice was in this theater s i was the dm …..Ny city does not work on house allowance….

That is not the case. If that were so, then no theatre would ever lose money, and we know that is not true. There is a minimal house allowance that is deducted from the gross ticket sales, but if the deal includes using that, they end up paying more in box office percentage to the studio.