Study reveals added economic value of cinemas

A new study has quantified the additional social value provided by cinemas to its local communities for the first time.

Commissioned by the BFI and Creative Policy and Evidence Centre (Creative PEC), the study used valuation techniques derived from DCMS’s Culture and Heritage Capital Framework to calculate additional social value and found previously unmeasured benefits equivalent to £600,000 a year for each of the six cinemas analysed.

This social value, amounting to £5.18m per cinema over 10 years, is in addition to the value generated by cinemas through ticket and other sales and memberships, which equates to £1.18m annually for the average UK cinema.

Analysis found the six chosen cinema venues – Broadway in Nottingham, Cameo in Edinburgh, Everyman in Cardiff, Light in New Brighton, Ritzy Cinema and Café in Brixton and Vue Cinema in Glasgow Fort – each provide a focal point around which people engage within an area, driving footfall and spending in other areas.

Less than 2% of cinema-goers surveyed said they do not engage in other activities as part of their cinema trip

“Our new research shows that the public derives significant value from cinemas over and above what is reflected in the prices they pay for tickets, such as in the contribution that cinema venues make to pride in place,” Creative PEC Director Hasan Bakhshi said.

“There are obvious challenges in placing monetary value on complex assets like cinemas and theatres, however when done with due care, it strengthens the economic case for investing in culture.”

The survey also found almost two-thirds (63%) of survey respondents agreed their cinema contributed to “their sense of pride in the area where they live”.

When faced with a hypothetical scenario of their cinema in question being forced to close permanently, cinema-goes said they would be willing to each pay £18 on average per year to a voluntary fund to keep the cinema operating – over twice the cost of an average cinema ticket.