Cinema attendances experience phenomenal increase

The figures indicate that cinema attendance has increased by as much as 3.4% over the twelve-month period of July 2002 to June 2003 against the same period in the prior year. The six month average of January to June 2003 compared to the same period in 2002 indicates a 6.6% overall increase. When comparing the month of June with the same period in the prior year results show attendances peaking at 2,002,166 in 2003 against the figure in June 2002 of 1,614,444 resulting in a phenomenal 24% increase.

South Africa's top 5 performing cinema sites for the month of June 2003 include:

- Gateway KwaZulu Natal
- Menlyn Park
- Brooklyn
- Eastgate
- Sandton City

Other top performing sites include Cavendish, Tygervalley, Cresta, Canal Walk and The Zone @ Rosebank.

Advertisers are reaping the benefits of the increased cinema audiences and with the introduction of CineMARK's new digital format, cinema advertising is opening up to new markets that would, due to cost constraints, not normally advertise on cinema.

Says Elmarie Pretorius, Managing Director, CineMARK: "CineMARK provides advertisers with a premium product and the opportunity to interact with their intended audiences at their most receptive, in addition CineMARK is committed to providing superior customer service and value for advertisers. We aim to keep both the advertiser and the audience enthralled and with the cinema audience on the increase we can proudly say we are achieving our objectives."