- Oil crisis on the late 1970’s restricted people's income
- Worn down - leading to a vicious cycle of decay - no profits meant no investment meant shabber cinemas meant less people going
- Growth of alternative leisure activities - Bingo
- Growth of video
- Houses offered more comfort - the general condition of houses improved substanially in the 10970’s (double glazing and central heating)
- Car ownership soared taking people to leisure activities outside of their local towns
- General growth of TV - happened in the UK much later than in the US - 1956 onwards
- Creation of ITV (1955) who filled their empty schedule with older films - something that the BBC had never considered - capturing an aging market
- Blockbuster films meant fewer releases which meant that there were fewer films to see
- Fewer film goers resulted in large auditoriums being carved up into smaller screens - resulting in poor quality viewing experiences with sound leakage
- Erosion of the Hay’s code meant that more films were X rated thus destroying the tradition of ‘family cinema going’ that was cultivated in the 1940’s
- Multiplexes offered too much competition
Growth of the Multiplex
- The economic backdrop of the 1980’s was far more favourable than the 1970’s people generally had less money
- A US import - their success had already been observed in America - a general Americanisation of Uk Culture?
- Initial success of AMC 'The Point' was emulated and became the gold standard
- McDonaldisation of cinema - service standardised
- Seats could be booked and reserved
- Multi screens offered a greater choice of films
- Multi screens offered a wider variety of viewing times
- Multiplexes were family friendly
- Multiplex’s were cleaned regularly and were more comfortable
- Had state of the art equipment - Dolby surround sound
- Took advantage of out of town locations to offer free parking
- Cinema going was coupled with other leisure activities to create an event experience - restaurants - premium seating - extensive snacks - they were also attached to shopping malls
- They were cost efficient in that multi screens could be operated by one projectionist
- Were aimed at young audiences - couples seats provided
- Came after the abolition of the Eady Levy and as a result of increased funding from America
- Video popularised film to a new level
- Proliferation of american filmmaking in the 1980’s meant more films were being made - local cinemas could offer a limited choice only
- Stricter drink driving legislation and the introduction of roadside breathalisers changed the way in which people spent their leisure time
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