1.4 Distribution of screens by size of cinema complex
 
Multiscreening in Europe came about as a result of a change in the film industry: risk-spreading over several screens and the possibility of varying screen size over a film's run made it possible to improve profitability in a declining market. The motives for this strategy were not only management of risk and better roll-out of products, but also for commercial reasons: the strategy sought to improve the quality of service offered to customers (comfortable seating, improvements in sound quality, foyers etc.).
 
However, it must be emphasized that the creation of multi-screen cinemas occurred at different stages in the life cycle of the exhibition sector in different EU countries. The three French circuits initiated the trend, at the beginning of the 1970s; this helped France to maintain numbers of admissions longer than other EU countries. In the middle of the 1980s, the baton was taken up by multiplexes (cinemas with more than eight screens) driven by national capital in Belgium (the Bert family opened the first multiplex in 1975) and by the US majors (trailblazed by independent, AMC) in the UK. The EU market became a strategic target for the majors, with integrated groups like UCI and Warner seeking to establish themselves. It needs to be emphasised that the concept of multiplex which prevails in Belgium (24 screens in the Kinepolis complex) is very different to that in the UK (where there are around 8-15 screens per establishment). Multiplex building has only been marginal in most countries; Spain has kept cinemas with more than 1,000 seats or more in the provinces, and Italy, although a process of renovation has taken place, is still characterized by 1-2 screen cinemas (see Figures 12a and 12b).
 
Looking at the different situation in different countries, it is evident that the centre of gravity of exhibition in the EU is still the single-screen cinema (see Figure 11 and Table 8): these still accounted for nearly half the total of installed sites in 1992. The intermediate complexes, with 3 to 5 screens, constitute about a quarter of the EU total. It is worth noting that the complexes with more than 6 screens make up 11% of the current total by mathematical average, and 9% when the average is weighted by the importance of each country in the overall EU context.

 
 

 Table 8 Breakdown of screens by type of cinema and by country (%)
Number of Screens
Single
2
3-5
6-7
8 or more
Belgium
17.4
11.6
36.0
10.4
24.6
Denmark
33.3
21.0
36.5
3.8
5.4
France
32.3
13.4
35.8
13.5
5.0
Germany
32.4
20.0
36.0
7.0
4.6
Greece
99.5
0.5
-
-
-
Ireland
16.9
25.4
37.6
3.2
16.9
Italy
97.6
1.3
0.5
0.3
0.3
Netherlands
13.2
21.6
60.4
4.8
0.0
Portugal
68.5
10.3
13.4
7.8
0.0
Spain
57.7
8.0
23.7
6.9
3.7
UK
18.7
12.3
33.3
11.2
24.5
Source: MEDIA Salles
 

The barriers to entry raised by the strategy of creating multi-screen cinemas has undeniably given the circuits an edge over the independent exhibitors, especially in countries where there are two or more major players in competition with one another. Table 9 shows how the number screens in multi-screen cinemas is much greater for cinemas belonging to circuits than for independents and publicly-funded cinemas.

 

 Table 9: Number of screens in cinema according to ownership
No. of screens in cinema 
 
Single 
 
2
 
3-5 
 
6-7
 
8 or more 
Cinemas belonging to a circuit
37.6%
8.8%
30.8%
9.1%
13.8%
Cinemas belonging to an independent
 
59.1%
 
12.8%
 
25.1%
 
2.6%
 
0.3%
Cinemas belonging to the public authorities or to a non profit-maximising organisation
 
63.9%
 
21.3%
 
4.1%
 
-
 
-
Source: MEDIA Salles/BIPE Conseil