Fewer Are Going to Movies; More Renting Videos

People are renting videos more and going out to the movies less, a survey conducted for the consumer electronics industry has found.

The poll, released Friday by the Electronic Industries Assn., seems to illuminate the dynamics of the recession’s effect on the movie business, where ticket sales fell to about $975 million last year from more than $1 billion in 1990.

Asked if they preferred to watch a movie at home or in a theater, 67% of the 1,000 respondents to the nationwide survey said they preferred to pop a tape in the VCR--up from 50% two years ago. By contrast, 22% of respondents said they would rather go to a movie, down from 38%.

“Cost was one of the most frequently cited considerations” for not going to theaters as often as in the past, said Gary J. Shapiro, group vice president of consumer electronics for the trade group. Shapiro said 65% of those survey agreed with the statement: “It costs too much to go to a movie.”

The survey was conducted in early December, before a record movie-going spree over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

David Sanborn, president of Newport Beach-based Sanborn Theaters Inc., which operates the 74-screen Socal Cinemas chain, acknowledged that the recession may be having a heavier impact on the box office than previous downturns.

“In the past, theaters have always lagged behind recessions,” he said. “But in those days, the theaters were the less expensive thing. Now there are videos. I guess the survey points that out.”

Of those who said they rent videos, 75% reported renting two or more a month, the survey found. By comparison, of those who said they prefer going out to movies, only 30% make the trip twice a month or more.

The apparent change in movie-viewing habits would have only a limited impact on Hollywood studios, since they make money whether people watch movies in a theater or at home. But theater chains are hurt when attendance drops, because ticket and concession sales are their only sources of revenue.

Among the survey’s findings:

* 40% of those who rent movies said they rent more frequently than they did two years ago, 35% at the same frequency and 25% less often. Only 18% go out to movies more often, while 38% go less often, and 44% see the same number of movies.

* 42% gave going out to movies poor marks for “entertainment value,” while 27% gave it high marks. By comparison, watching a movie at home got high marks from 72% and low marks from 11%.