Super Zoo-Chapter 778 - 757: Astonishing Attendance Rate

While the internet buzz was fermenting, and even before online public opinion had reached its peak, just one day into the second week, the occupancy rate at Taoyuan Cinema saw a qualitative leap.

If the first three days of the first week could be described as a steady increase for Taoyuan Cinema's occupancy, with the data curve forming a smooth arc, then the following days saw a surge that was akin to an unscalable steep slope, appearing almost like a sheer cliff during the weekend.

By the second weekend, the overall two-week cinema occupancy rate had been boosted to an astonishing 52%, while the single-day occupancy rate had actually reached 78%!

52%, 78%—these numbers might seem ordinary, say, in terms of a percent score on a test, where one would barely be considered good, and the other wouldn't even pass.

But within the industry, everyone understood what these numbers meant!

Within a 24-hour day, excluding the seven hours from 2 am to 9 am, of the remaining 17 hours only about 8 hours were genuinely viable for viewing. The majority of the time slots—morning, noon, and the wee hours—are usually considered undesirable.

Even in major cinema chains, occupancy during these off-peak hours hardy surpasses 20%. Of course, fake box office numbers don't count.

The total and single-day occupancy rates for Taoyuan Cinema include these off-peak hours!

And these times account for nearly half of the effective statistical periods.

To have reached 52%, this implies that during prime time, the screenings were almost always full, and even during the off-peak hours, there was quite a respectable attendance;

As for the 78% on a single day, that was even more terrifying—it meant that most of the day's screenings could be described as packed! Even during the lousy hours, the theaters were far from empty!

The once bottom-ranked Changhe Cinema, after a makeover, had been reborn as 'Taoyuan Cinema'. With new decision-makers, new executors, and new strategic directions, it had achieved remarkable success, securing a spectacular comeback victory!

Just in terms of occupancy rates alone, Taoyuan Cinema had temporarily become the undisputed number one cinema in Yangchuan City during this period!

All the major cinema chains had been keeping an eye on Taoyuan Cinema. Even those who initially didn't pay much attention to this nascent movie theater couldn't ignore it any longer, thanks to the internet hype and chatter among peers.

As Mr. Qian of Baoke had said, in business, you can't just keep your head down and walk without watching the road. Ignoring changes in the externals, the movements of competitors or potential partners, and just focusing on your own things would inevitably lead to elimination.

No one could have imagined that merely by showing art house films, niche films, and even re-screening old movies, they could raise occupancy rates to a level that was frightening even by national standards.

A single-day at 78%?

Veterans in the industry suddenly remembered that initial frenzied period when The Lord of the Rings and Titanic were released.

Actually, it isn't that there haven't been movies with a single-day occupancy over 70%; on the contrary, there have been many.

But these films are almost always block-booked patriotic films.

Schools, hospitals, government and corporate institutions—the staff get movie tickets every year during the holidays.

These tickets are sold or given away by theaters to various institutions, and strictly speaking, it's a political task.

Once the tickets are given out, whether or not anyone goes to watch, or how many do—these all count as 'occupancy'.

There have even been single-day occupancies that reached 100%, like for some major historical saga or war epic...

Of course, amongst the patriotic movies, there are indeed some that are quite good to watch.

But a film that spontaneously attracts audiences to buy tickets for over 70% occupancy on a single day, that truly counts as a sensation.

There are a variety of reasons, and not all can be attributed to paid seats.

Initially, only a few people were aware that Taoyuan Cinema was screening classic films, spreading the word mouth-to-mouth, undoubtedly leading to more and more people becoming aware;

Furthermore, online promotion was an important factor, people love excitement, and where the buzz is, they squeeze in. Taoyuan Cinema became a hot topic in the film circle, naturally drawing more and more people to check out the fuss.

Moreover, the ticket prices at the cinema were not high, the cheapest being ten yuan, and the most expensive session costing just thirty-five.

Jin from Baoke handed over the statistical data to Mr. Qian with a dark expression.

He had expected Mr. Qian to slap himself in the face, only for Taoyuan Cinema to achieve remarkable results amidst widespread skepticism.

Mr. Qian's previously optimistic words about Taoyuan Cinema and Suming had become reality in less than two weeks. It is said that the board of directors had heard of it, and the group's senior management had unanimously praised and recognized it. The board was even planning to convene a special meeting to discuss making strengthening ties with Taoyuan Cinema and Taoyuan Group a routine affair, with Mr. Qian, who was based in Yangchuan City, in charge of this initiative.

After all, Baoke was not the only cinema chain in Yangchuan City. Although large, Baoke had competitors, and Taoyuan Group was obviously a potent yet non-threatening ally. If Baoke didn't approach them, other chains certainly wouldn't let the opportunity pass.

Jin sighed inwardly, perhaps he was indeed getting old, and his abilities were not as strong as he had imagined. From now on, it'd be best to work honestly under Mr. Qian.

"Mr. Qian, why don't we also try to learn from Taoyuan?" Jin suggested.

"We can't learn that," Mr. Qian smiled, "I've mentioned before that the nature of our large cinema chains, with our considerable capital investments and pursuit of profits, means we can't afford to offer low-price screenings. Even if we did, they couldn't be cheaper than Taoyuan; otherwise, we'd be making a loss. As for movies that don't rely on special effects to draw crowds, do you think audiences will go to Taoyuan, which now has a good reputation and is cheap, or come to a big chain with higher prices? And it's not just a matter of investment and profits. Don't look at Taoyuan's high occupancy rate; that's because Taoyuan has only one cinema. The niche audience in the city who share the same taste is concentrated there. With a chain like ours that has several cinemas in a city, once you spread out the attendees, the occupancy rate dips. Not just for us at Baoke, but other cinema chains cannot compete with Taoyuan either."

"Why?" Jin had plenty of experience and immediately realized the answer after he finished his question.

There are those who take on the risky business, but a losing venture serves no one. The niche cinema slice is small, sufficient only for one like Taoyuan.

If major cinema chains joined in, expending great effort, even if they took all of Taoyuan's business, what would they earn once it's all divided up?

If there's no profit to be made and people are alienated, it's a classic case of a lose-lose situation.

It would be better to continue showing blockbusters, or even terrible movies.

Suming's initial positioning of the cinema was now displaying its full advantages. It had protected itself at its most vulnerable and repelled any major competitors' attempts to snatch its piece away as it grew stronger.

Conversely, these major players all had some degree of necessity to maintain good relations with Taoyuan, or at least no reason to be antagonistic.

"As for forming ties..."

Mr. Qian smiled, "Taoyuan Group is doing alright, but Taoyuan Cinema is still too small. What we can do is help push them along and let them grow stronger. Then, when they become a truly powerful ally, Mr. Su will owe me a favor."