3 OF 4 AMERICANS PREFER MOVIES AT HOME YOUNG ADULTS LIKE CINEMAS; OLDER PEOPLE WOULD RATHER WAIT FOR DVD.

Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer

If you like sitting in front of your big-screen TV watching a movie on the DVD player, you're not alone. By almost three to one, American adults prefer watching films at home rather than at a theater, says a new Associated Press-AOL News poll.

The survey comes at a time that Hollywood is enduring its worst slump at the box office in two decades and raises questions about whether a major cultural change is occurring or whether a series of temporary factors is leaving a lot of theater seats empty.

Carrie Dieterich, vice president of marketing and industry relations for the Video Software Dealers Association, believes that survey results are driven by several factors - convenience, the cost of taking the family to the movies and technology.

``I think DVD has something to do with it - the great picture, added features. More people are putting theaters in their homes. It's becoming almost a theatrical experience - without the audience reaction, but certainly the sound and visual.''

The survey of 1,000 adults conducted June 13-15 found that 73 percent of adults prefer to watch movies at home and that 82 percent of those polled use DVD players.

The poll results seem to jibe with a soft summer box office that has Hollywood bean-counters concerned. The box office is in the 16th week of a slowdown, the longest since 1985, when still-novel VHS and Beta cassettes caused worries about the future of moviegoing.

``I think the (box-office) slump is product-driven,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, president of ticket-tracker Exhibitor Relations.

Brandon Gray, president and publisher of Box Office Mojo, agrees. He believes theater visits can rebound if the product is better. ``If Hollywood starts telling great yarns again, I sure people will start lining up,'' he said, pointing to how audiences came out for ``Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.''

But a cultural shift to more DVD viewing is a much bigger problem for the exhibitors than a product problem, says Dergarabedian.

Dieterich adds that video retailers will know for sure next fall. ``We can look at revenues in (DVD) rentals in four months and tell whether it was the product.''

While studios can adapt to such findings by putting a greater marketing push behind DVDs, theater owners, on the other hand, might need to rethink current strategies to stem slowing ticket sales.

Dergarabedian says theater owners will need to ensure that the moviegoing experience - attractive auditoriums and lobbies, quality sound systems, comfy seats - is at least as appealing as what's on the screen.

At this year's ShoWest gathering of the National Association of Theater Owners, 3-D and IMAX projection were important topics of discussion. Dergarabedian says owners might also need to consider promotional gimmicks, such as a weekend ticket being reused for a midweek matinee or maybe nickel popcorn nights.

``That's predicated on theaters spending even more money, which is a tough decision when ticket sales are off. They may have to bet big to win big.''

The biggest mistake they could make, in Dergarabedian's view, would be to attempt to cover lost revenues with even higher ticket and concession prices.

Box-office revenues have been down every weekend since late February. ``Batman Begins'' opened Wednesday with about $15 million in sales, and Hollywood is hoping it will score $50 million-plus this weekend to snap the losing streak. If ``Batman'' falls short, Hollywood could tie the 1985 downturn of 17 weekends, the longest streak since analysts began tracking detailed box-office figures.

``Star Wars: Episode II - Revenge of the Sith,'' ``Madagascar'' and ``Mr. & Mrs. Smith'' have sold well this summer, but ``Cinderella Man,'' ``Kingdom of Heaven'' and ``The Honeymooners'' posted disappointing results.

``There's certainly more competition now for entertainment dollars than there ever was before. No question there's more choices. That may splinter the audience a little bit,'' Bruce Snyder told the AP. He is head of distribution for 20th Century Fox, which released ``Revenge of the Sith.''

Theater owners also are up against an ever-tightening time window between a theatrical opening and a DVD release. Dieterich said that in 2002 the average elapsed time was 165 days. In 2003 it dropped to 145 days, and last year it was down to 138 days. Many moviegoers could be reluctant to shell out $10 at a theater for a movie they and their families can see in four months for $5 or less.

The poll also found that 47 percent of respondents feel that, in general, movies are getting worse, while 33 percent believe they are getting better.

But as with theater-going, the results reflected an age divide. Young adults were more likely than those 30 and older to say they prefer going to the theater, and young adults were more likely to say movies are getting better than those 30 and older.

``As people get older, they tend to go to the movies less often,'' notes Gray, ``and they tend to see how the movies of today don't stack up to the movies that they used to see.''

Dergarabedian and Dieterich agree that the theatrical experience remains popular in the Los Angeles area, probably because of the high number of residents with ties to the entertainment industry.

``I don't see going to the movies going away at all,'' Dergarabedian said. ``It's just becoming more challenging to get people into theaters.''

Valerie Kuklenski, [phone]

valerie.kuklenski(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

(color) no caption (person watching a movie)

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no caption (AP-AOL poll)

Source: AP AOL poll by lpsos

Jon Gerung/Staff Artist