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Multiplex on brink of turning multiuse(Omaha World-Herald (NE) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jul. 27--Move over, movie fans. Digital projectors and satellite dishes are about to change multiplexes forever. A wealth of live alternative programming -- think college sports, for example -- soon will be delivered on compact hard drives or through the air rather than on film shipped in heavy metal canisters. How soon is a matter of money, contracts and new equipment. But theater owners and programming experts say there's little doubt that the next two to three years will bring some eye-popping events to the Omaha metro area. Imagine watching a Big Red football game live on the big screen. Or an auditorium of video gamers in Omaha competing with gamers in San Francisco. Or a music festival on a Tuesday night, with concerts featuring top stars of rock, country, hip-hop and classical. Or a steady stream of G-rated morning programming for toddlers. Broadway shows, international content such as Japanese anime, extreme sports like skateboarding, health and wellness information for senior citizens, corporate training, consumer information -- theaters are considering every niche audience for digital viewing. Those examples come from Dan Diamond, vice president of National CineMedia's alternative entertainment division, Fathom; and Michele Martell, chief operating officer of the Bigger Picture, the alternative content division of Access Integrated Technologies, a leading installer of digital cinema. "What's fantastic about digital is that programming an auditorium is as simple as drag and drop on a computer screen," Martell said from her Woodland Hills, Calif., office. "You can program your day like a TV schedule." While movie theaters take in $10 billion a year, they operate at just 15 percent of capacity, she said. Filling more auditoriums during more hours of the day has huge moneymaking potential. "It's all about finding available audiences for off-peak hours," she said. "How can we bring people to the theater to receive entertainment or information in a way they can't otherwise get?" Movies are expected to dominate theaters for years to come, especially on weekends. But some alternatives have already arrived: the Metropolitan Opera shown live from New York City at Ruth Sokolof Theater (Film Streams), or a drum corps competition coming Aug. 7 to Star Cinema and Oak View AMC, for example. They are early tests of what will draw crowds. Other events, such as professional basketball screened in 3-D in Las Vegas, have helped trouble-shoot the digital technology. Fewer than 5,000 of the nation's 39,000 movie screens have digital equipment, and about 1,000 can show digital 3-D. But as many as 23,000 could be converted to digital within three years, said Patrick Corcoran, director of media and research for the National Association of Theatre Owners. "The industry should be completely digital in five to 10 years," Corcoran said. Among the metro area's 140-plus screens, four have digital projectors: one each at Film Streams, Great Escape, Village Pointe and Twin Creek. That number will rise rapidly in the next few years. Rave Cinema, opening in November at Westroads, will be all digital. So will Midtown Crossing, near Mutual of Omaha, when it opens in November 2009. Other theaters plan to convert to digital soon. "I would guess that's less than five years off, and hopefully much sooner," said David Poland, director of operations east for Aliance Entertainment of New Albany, Ind., which owns the Great Escape 16 in Omaha. Marcus Theatres of Milwaukee, which recently bought the Douglas Theatres chain in Omaha and Lincoln, plans to start alternative programming soon, perhaps within a year, said Carlo Petrick, its communications manager. Marcus owns Twin Creek, Village Pointe and 20 Grand. Digital makes the new programming possible because it allows transmission of live events. It's also cheaper to deliver an electronic signal on hard drive or to a rooftop satellite dish than it is to create film prints and ship them in heavy canisters. Movie studios could save about $2 billion a year if they didn't have to make and deliver reels of film. But switching a single screen from film to digital can cost $75,000 or more. Theater chains are negotiating with studios to decide who pays what for the conversion. AMC, Regal and Cinemark have formed Digital Cinema Implementation Partners (DCIP) to work out deals for their 15,000 screens. Access Integrated Technologies represents Carmike's 4,000 screens, plus 6,000 others. Cinema Buying Group serves as an umbrella for smaller regional and local theater companies, with 8,000 more screens. The next step will be getting financing to buy the equipment. With the current housing loan crisis creating strain on the banking industry, Digital Cinema Implementation Partners head Travis Reid said financing requirements will be stringent. He said his company hopes to sign studio deals this quarter, then get financing and begin conversion to digital by year's end. The last step will be negotiating contracts with program suppliers. For sports events such as the Super Bowl or Husker football, the talks begin with television networks that own broadcast rights. "No one has contacted us at this time," said Marc Boehm, University of Nebraska executive associate athletic director. "We'd have to work with Fox Sports Midwest. But this would be of great interest to Fox. I don't see anything that would prohibit movie theaters from picking up" Big Red games. Boehm said he had no concerns about keeping Memorial Stadium's string of sold-out games intact. "We just want to give options to fans out there who don't have access. But I guarantee you it would sell faster than a Steven Spielberg movie." Ticket prices are expected to vary greatly, depending on the event. But rock concerts and premiere sporting events will be far cheaper at the multiplex than going to the live event. Whatever the event, quality and marketing will be key. "It's not a gimmick," said National CineMedia's Diamond. "We're making certain (new programming) will be something audiences really enjoy, and something we can continue." --Contact the writer: 444-1269, [email protected] To see more of the Omaha World-Herald, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.omaha.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Omaha World-Herald, Neb. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |