MALE TEENS SHUN MOVIES MOST LOYAL GROUP NOW JOINS EXODUS.

Byline: Valerie Kuklenski and Rick Coca Staff Writers

Teen boys and young men - for years Hollywood's most loyal audience - are falling out of love with the moviegoing experience, and frequent moviegoers of all ages are complaining about the high cost of cinema entertainment, according to a survey to be released today.

After a relatively soft summer at the box office, Culver City-based research firm Online Testing eXchange has found that moviegoers are more inclined to save a few bucks and find their entertainment at home than they were just two years ago.

In an online nationwide study of 2,000 frequent moviegoers (those who go out to movies at least six times a year) between the ages of 13 and 54, OTX found that options for home entertainment and the cost of tickets and popcorn are having a significant impact in the young male market, the ones who for more than a decade have driven demands for big-budget blockbusters and low-brow comedies.

In the 2003 OTX survey, 60 percent of males under 25 said ``there was an excellent selection of films to choose from.'' That number was down to 35 percent in the survey conducted Aug. 12-16.

Overall though, moviegoers are satisfied with the product on the screen, if not the cost of admission.

``I think the really big finding is that, contrary to what everyone is saying about movie quality, it's not the quality of movies,'' said Shelley Zalis, CEO of OTX. ``It's a value proposition of cost and what else is competing for their time, their leisure-time activities. A lot of people have technology in their homes, and they're watching movies at home, they're playing video games at home, they've got (video-on-demand) services with Netflix and Cinema Now and all these other choices.''

While box-office observers have long suspected that video games have been eroding the young male market, Bruce Friend, executive vice president of Media & Entertainment Insights, says recent leaps in gaming technology probably accounts for a significant downturn in movie interest in that group.

``Now that there are these MMOGs - massive multi-player online games - where people can play hundreds of people around the world ... that kind of opened up the gaming world to become a community activity as opposed to just an individual activity,'' Friend said.

The impact of DVDs is growing rapidly as well. The study found that young males watched an average of 47 movies on DVD in the latest study, up from 30 films two years ago. Additionally, nearly 60 percent of all respondents mistakenly believe most movies are out on DVD within three months (it's really four to five months after theatrical release), so they decide it's not worth buying the tickets.

In 2003, 79 percent said they prefer to see a new movie in a theater, compared with only 59 percent in the new survey. The rest are willing to wait for the DVD or telecast.

Locally, young men agreed with the study's findings: They and their friends are going to theaters less because the movie experience is getting more expensive and video games are getting more appealing.

``Paying for a movie ticket is not that big a deal, but the other things - the candy, the popcorn, the soda - that gets expensive,'' said Mike Latta, 24, of Woodland Hills.

Chuck Bradley, 28, of Woodland Hills said video games had evolved, adding, ``They're a lot more entertaining than they've ever been.''

Video games can now be purchased for about $20 and played again and again, said California State University, Northridge, student Brandin Chasin, 21, of Calabasas.

``You can play with your friends,'' he said. ``It's a fun, party activity.''

Although DVD piracy was not mentioned in the survey, several young men said inexpensive - and illegal - bootleg copies of new releases keep people away from theaters.

``I'd say college students are driving that industry,'' said Pepperdine student John Stafford, 22, of Woodland Hills. ``Go out to any college dorm environment - that's what college kids do.''

Stafford said he personally found little appealing in most new movies.

``The focus is too much on special effects,'' Stafford said. ``I'd rather read a book.''

Studio chiefs and marketing executives will get the not-so-good news in detail Tuesday when OTX presents the complete findings of ``The State of Moviegoing in Today's Digital Age'' to its clients.

``I think that the industry has seen the box office numbers kind of trending down, but there never has been a quantifiable study explaining what it was all about,'' Zalis said. ``It's sort of good news, bad news. I think they'll be somewhat relieved to know the quality of the film isn't the problem, which is what a lot of hypotheses have been to date.

``And I think that it's going to be a little bit of a wake-up call to realize that we need to enhance the whole experience of going to the movies, because people like the social activity of getting out of the house.''

Andreas Fuchs, a consultant in the movie exhibition business, is in preproduction on a feature documentary film tentatively titled ``Now Showing! America Goes to the Movies.'' He says Hollywood has reinvented the motion picture business often in the past century in response to Americans' changing entertainment appetites and options.

Fuchs suggested today's studio executives and theater owners may draw some lessons from pioneers of past innovations, such as CinemaScope (which came as color television sales were booming), the first shopping mall theaters (an answer to suburban sprawl), or even drive-ins that popped up in the middle of potato fields in the 1950s (it's all about the car).

The temptation may be great to abandon traditional entertainment delivery in the effort to serve home theaters, computers and handheld devices, but Fuchs said the motion picture business should not forsake its roots as a communal, social experience and a marketing platform in its own right.

``I think theater owners will do what needs to be done,'' Fuchs said. ``They listen to their public. As long as the studios don't forget that it's the primary experience in the movie theater that helps them promote that 17th showing on cable television at 1 a.m., everything will be all right.''

OTX executives said, given the dramatic changes in their survey trends in just two years, they will repeat the study again next summer.

Valerie Kuklenski, [phone]

valerie.kuklenski(at)dailynews.com