Streaming, prices, or content? The real reason audiences are skipping theatres

While higher ticket costs have played a role in keeping audiences away, industry insiders argue that the real culprit is lack of compelling content. 

With streaming platforms offering quick alternatives and theatre chains prioritising big-budget films, smaller productions are struggling to find their place—raising concerns about the future of regional cinema. According to media consulting firm Ormax, Telugu theatrical footfall dropped by 12% last year, Kannada by 13%, and Punjabi by 20%.

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In 2024, average ticket price (ATP) for Kannada films rose to ₹116 from ₹103 the year before, for Punjabi films, to ₹110 from ₹102, for Malayalam films to ₹92 from ₹85 and for Gujarati films to ₹91 from ₹86, Ormax said. 

Surge in ATP in Kannada and Telugu languages was driven by the implementation of a 2% cess on movie tickets in Karnataka, and the governments of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana permitting higher ATPs for tentpole films for their opening weeks, respectively.

“Footfall certainly dipped in 2024 as compared to 2023, which was a spectacular year, and the degrees of dip vary across languages. However, the sense is that ticket prices will now stabilise as they have gone as high as they possibly could, so there wouldn’t be any further increase,” Rahul Puri, managing director, Mukta Arts and Mukta A2 Cinemas said. 

Puri, however, argued that in case of languages such as Telugu, the issue was more content than price-related with Allu Arjun’s Pushpa 2: The Rule an outlier among a mass of box office flops that just didn’t find resonance among audiences.

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The multiplex dilemma

Still recovering from Covid losses and evolving audience habits, cinema chains have been criticised for setting ticket prices for small films on par with big-budget blockbusters. Experts warn that this approach, especially when films hit streaming platforms within weeks, is driving more viewers away from theatres.

Further, regional language film industries have anyway been struggling to stay afloat, producing only a handful of hits such as Bohurupi (Bengali) and Baipan Bhari Deva (Marathi) even during the prolonged absence of Bollywood blockbusters. Experts said audiences in these markets, like Hindi movie viewers, have also become selective and a few films have been able to meet their expectations.

“These small-budget films anyway do not find a large audience in theatres. But relatively lower ticket rates could have pushed viewers towards these low-profile films. High prices will just backfire and theatres need to wake up to this,” said a senior studio executive declining to be named.

That said, trade experts point out there are other factors denting footfalls in markets other than Hindi. For instance, there were virtually no high-profile releases during the two months of Lok Sabha election campaigning last year, keeping theatres bereft of new content.

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“Also, the Telugu industry now has ambitions of large, pan-India films which take longer to make. So big stars who were earlier coming out with one film per year now take a three-year gap. That is also why the numbers are down,” independent exhibitor Vishek Chauhan pointed out.