MoviePass Limiting Subscribers To 3 Movies Per Month (npr.org) 105
nolaguy shares a report from NPR: Movie theater subscription service MoviePass will not be raising prices, as it had announced last week, but will instead be capping the number of times that subscribers can visit movie theaters. For $9.95 per month, MoviePass subscribers used to be able to see a movie in theaters every day, if they so chose. Beginning on August 15, the service will instead provide three movies per month. The change replaces a previously announced plan to raise prices to $14.95 a month. The beleaguered movie theater subscription company is also canceling two other recent changes -- "peak pricing" surcharges for popular movies and a ticket verification process -- that were intended to stop the company from bleeding money.
Enough (Score:4, Insightful)
Three movies per month should be enough for anyone.
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I still don't see how even that would be profitable, unless the expect people to subscribe to MoviePass in the same way as the gym...
Re:Enough (Score:5, Insightful)
They're still 10's of millions of dollars in the hole, just to get to even, much less profitable.
They say that the problem was people that 'abused' the system, meaning people that took them up on the original offer as stated. Even at three movies a month, they're still buying tickets at full price and selling them for less. So yeah, I think they'd need about 90% of their subscribers to pay them each month and choose not to see any movies. Good luck with that.
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Why would I pay $15 per month instead of just going on Tuesday or Wednesday
Because you have a job?
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Nothing says success like free on a Tuesday.
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Tightwad Tuesday at our theater here. Tuesday matinee is $6. Mildly amusing that the $6 showing of Christopher Robin tomorrow is at 4:20. Going to toke up real good before show time (pleasant walk, especially when high).
Re:Enough (Score:4, Insightful)
They say that the problem was people that 'abused' the system, meaning people that took them up on the original offer as stated.
No, some of the abuse was much worse than that. For instance, I installed my Moviepass app on my burner phone so I could loan it to other people. My wife watched several movies per week, my daughter used it, and she also loaned it to her friends. We were probably doing 20 movies a month, costing them 20 times the subscription fee.
For three movies per month, we will likely still keep it.
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So people like you are the reason why we can't have nice things for too long.
These big businesses scamming us with high prices and strict rules, because there are enough people abusing the system to prevent honest business.
Honest business needs both honest companies and honest customers.
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They say that the problem was people that 'abused' the system, meaning people that took them up on the original offer as stated. Even at three movies a month, they're still buying tickets at full price and selling them for less. So yeah, I think they'd need about 90% of their subscribers to pay them each month and choose not to see any movies. Good luck with that.
I get your point, but nobody complains about AMC's competing Stubs A-List offering. It allows you to see 3 movies a week and costs $19.95 a month. No restrictions on what you see or when you see it, but it must be at an AMC theater. I don't see anybody saying AMC is going to go under from this. In fact, it may be profitable for Movie Pass at the $9.95 rate or maybe they lose so little money that their selling of subscriber, info, which apparently is the real key to their business model, can actually mak
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Well, duh! The difference is that AMC makes money on concessions. MoviePass does not.
Re: Enough (Score:2)
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It could be profitable, if they somehow got bulk deals on tickets. Movie theatres have tons of unsold tickets. Empty seats everywhere. It's kind of amazing that they continue to ask the same price for every movie regardless of how long it's been in the theatre or how high the demand is for the movie. I would gladly go to more movies if they discounted the price when they weren't as popular. As it stands right now, it doesn't make financial sense for me to spend so much on a movie (over $20 for a ticket an
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As it stands right now, it doesn't make financial sense for me to spend so much on a movie (over $20 for a ticket and snacks) unless the movie is spectacular.
That's about $10/hr.
How many things are you going to PAY to do, outside of your house, that costs that little? How cheap can you be?
For me, the movie doesn't have to be "spectacular" - it just has to be "interesting enough"....and sadly, such content is hard to come by these days.
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You are failing to account for lost opportunity. Things I can't do for 2 hours also cost me. So it isn't $10 an hour. It is, at the very least, $20 + 2 hours salary.
Right. Because you work 24/7/365 and there's just no way you could possibly spend 2 hours doing something OTHER than working.
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$20 a pop, family of 4. Thats 80 dollars for 2 hours.
We could go to the zoo for about the same cost, all day event.
We could go fishing, even if we didn't have a license and had to buy licenses for me and the misses its significantly cheaper. All day event.
We could go to the museum. Again all day event.
The county fairs have been going on, typically we spend about 100 dollars for the family for snacks and rides, all day event.
We could drive up to the national park and drive through it for 20 dollars for th
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$20 a pop, family of 4. Thats 80 dollars for 2 hours.
My comment was directed at the poster I responded to - who mentioned the $20 for HIM...nothing about a family of four. On that note, apparently, he does nothing BUT work and has no chance of having any kind of family life anyway.
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I prefer to go by myself. No pressure to make conversation. No one talking to ME during the movie. No negotiation over what seat to get, etc.
I love my wife - but I prefer to see movies by myself.
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A lot of things don't cost at all, like the park. But if you're going to confine it to things you pay for, there's live concerts in small venues, the amusement park, minor league ballgames, community theater, museums, the zoo, dinner with friends...
Before they change this again... (Score:2)
...they need to consult with someone that can do 3rd grade arithmetic.
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Re: Enough (Score:1)
They need to shift to an ala carte system. Instead of a subscription model which needs memberships, they could offer a plan where, on the day you want to see a movie you go there and buy a ticket. They could offer discounts on slow periods. Maybe make money selling popcorn or so other dirt cheap snack food. To avoid the theater owner's complaining, they could rent a big empty room and get some projectors, so they can show it themselves. Maybe but a deal.with studios to get first run copies licensed. Somet
They did (Score:3)
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...folks like going to the movies and would go more often if the price was lower.
You make a good point there. The evenyoungerones like going to superhero movies, but as I am an old youngone, I have pretty much seen them all, several times over the years.
Therefore I resent paying $25 per person (in my local money) to see some something that is not new to me.
If they charged ~$5 each, we could go nearly every week.
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Well with all the new restrictions I am better off going to the movies myself. I live near a small theater that normally charges only $5.00 for a ticket.
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Dozens of Netflix shows per day? You are a weakling, sir!
I follow the MoviePass philosophy and watch at least twenty two-hours-long movies every day!
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>"Three movies per month should be enough for anyone."
That is $3.32 per movie, assuming one always saw 3 movies a month (and not counting the "price" of your privacy). Still not a bad deal. Except, are there really even 3 movies worth seeing each and every month? Sure, there are probably months where I could find 3 interesting things in a month, but other months it could be higher, and most months it would be lower. Too bad they didn't work out a "banking" or "rollover" system so you could utilize th
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Well, if you're paying anyway you might be less picky when going to the movies.
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Besides, who has time to go to three movies a month?
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More than enough for me. I lucky if I see 3 movies per YEAR (in the movie theater).
Last movie was April (Infinity War). Next movie will be Mission Impossible.
I saw 2 movies in 2017.
I saw 3 movies in 2016.
So...yeah. Their service still costs more than its worth to me. I am not their target customer. I can't imagine I ever will be.
Obligatory Darth Vader (Score:1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Where's Fucked Company when you need them? (Score:5, Funny)
This would be a lovely entry. Anyone taking bets yet on how long till it dies?
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This Friday at about 8:00 PM EST.
Re:Where's Fucked Company when you need them? (Score:5, Informative)
This story goes way deeper. The parent company, Helios and Matheson Analytics, is a spin-off of Helios and Matheson Information Technology, an Indian ponzi scheme that defrauded between five and seven thousand investors, including the elderly and banks. The Indian principals' accounts in India are still frozen and the fraud investigation is still pending. Some of them were involved in the US H&M board or got hired as "consultants" to the US board for over $18K/month.
https://www.businessinsider.com/moviepass-has-deep-ties-to-indian-company-accused-of-fraud-2018-6 [businessinsider.com]
The newer US board and C-levels are serial penny-stock entrepreneurs in fields like psychic phone networks and marijuana vending machines.
The whole thing was always a blend of ponzi and pump and dump. They use hype to lure in investors, and they were wildly successful, running the stock up to 8000 less than a year ago and crashing it to less than a dollar.
Everyone who ever touched either Helios and Matheson needs to be investigated and held as a flight risk, especially the Indians who already fled India. This company needs to be prosecuted as an example and deterrent.
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It looks like they may have defrauded banks. You can rip off as many little old ladies as you can, but play fast and loose with banks' money and you're in big trouble.
Also, their CEO is Ted Farnsworth, and we all know what a terrible job he did at Planet Express in the early 3000's.
AMC plan better and it's any format so dolby atmos (Score:2)
AMC plan better and it's any format so you can get movies in dolby atmos
not be raising prices? (Score:5, Insightful)
For $9.95 per month, MoviePass subscribers used to be able to see a movie in theaters every day, if they so chose. Beginning on August 15, the service will instead provide three movies per month. The change replaces a previously announced plan to raise prices to $14.95 a month.
So, instead of a max of 30 movies/month for $14.95 (up from $9.95) it will be a max of 3 movies/month for $9.95. How is this not effectively a price increase? Fewer at the same price is equivalent to the same number at a higher price.
For example. It's like smaller rolls of toilet paper but at the same price, because customers notice the "price point" not actual value. If you haven't noticed, toilet paper used to be 4.5"x4.5", then most switched to 4.5"x4" or 4.25"x4", now it's 4"x4" or 4"x3.92" -- but all at the same price as 4.5"x4.5". (Google: toilet paper smaller)
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"How is this not effectively a price increase?"
Well you see, the price never changed.
Re:not be raising prices? (Score:5, Funny)
It's like smaller rolls of toilet paper but at the same price, because customers notice the "price point" not actual value. If you haven't noticed, toilet paper used to be 4.5"x4.5", then most switched to 4.5"x4" or 4.25"x4", now it's 4"x4" or 4"x3.92" -- but all at the same price as 4.5"x4.5". (Google: toilet paper smaller)
Is this where the three little shells comes from?
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Re: not be raising prices? (Score:2)
For many, 3 unrestricted movies for $9.95/mo is a WAY better deal than $9.95/mo + $3-7/movie + tons of additional annoying restrictions.
And it gets worse... (Score:1)
I just tried to use MoviePass to attend a 7:30pm showing - not available! The only movies that showed available (selectable) were all past 9pm - on a weeknight. And of course half of the movies were greyed out because they are new and the app showed "This premium screening is not supported".
Bait and Switch (Score:4, Interesting)
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It's a subscription right? This month you get all movies, next month you get 3.
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Only bait and switch for those getting something they didn't think they were getting. Price increases for subscription services are not bait and switch unless the lower *currently* advertised price is not the one available at checkout.
Re:Bait and Switch (Score:4, Informative)
How is it against the law to change the price or offerings of your subscription service? For all the company's faults, they seem to be doing this aboveboard. If you feel that it is no longer a good value, then just cancel the subscription.
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https://fraud.laws.com/bait-and-switch/what-makes-bait-and-switch-fraud
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Surprised to hear no one suing for false advertising. Sell full access to all movies, switch to 3 a month is Bait and Switch, that against the law in the US as far as i know.
On the other hand, I'm surprised that people actually believed that they could see a movie, in a movie theatre, every day for $9.95 per month (~ 33 cents per movie) without the movie theatres (and/or MoviePass) going broke. Businesses must, at a bare minimum, price their goods/services to at least cover their costs. If a price looks too good to be true, then it almost certainly is.
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Interesting concept of a contract (Score:4, Interesting)
MoviePass certainly has an interesting concept of how a contract works, one where they collect money upfront (the 2017 holiday promotion) and then unilaterally change the terms of the contract later. I wonder how they will fair in court with that?
Re:Interesting concept of a contract (Score:4, Informative)
Well, IANAL, but:
You are expected to read these Terms of Use because your use of our Site and Service constitutes your agreement to the Arbitration Agreement and Class Action waiver described in Sections 17 and 18 below to resolve any disputes with us...
17. Arbitration And Small Claims Proceedings
(i) EITHER YOU OR WE MAY CHOOSE TO HAVE ANY DISPUTE BETWEEN US DECIDED BY ARBITRATION AND NOT IN COURT OR BY JURY TRIAL.
(ii) IF A DISPUTE IS ARBITRATED, YOU AGREE TO GIVE UP YOUR RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE AS A CLASS REPRESENTATIVE OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY CLASS CLAIM YOU MAY HAVE AGAINST US IN STATE OR FEDERAL COURT INCLUDING ANY RIGHT TO CLASS ARBITRATION OR ANY CONSOLIDATION OF INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATIONS.
https://www.moviepass.com/term... [moviepass.com]
Re:Interesting concept of a contract (Score:4, Informative)
Arbitration is just cheaper and faster, it doesn't make illegal shit any more legal.
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Who do you think hires the arbitration company? What is their incentive to be fair or even interpret the contract in a legal way. Courts have upheld the ability to waive the rights to a real trial.
RIP MoviePass (Score:3)
In light of recent events, I am now limiting my MoviePass subscription to $0 / month.
Sad to see it go, I never expected their business model to last long term, but it was a good run... :(
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The next time you are thinking about going to a movie, you decide its not worth the risk, and the next time you need to renew Moviepass, you decide its not worth the risk.