by Bob Tourtellotte
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – Leaders of the movie industry on Tuesday painted a bright picture of a sector on the rebound in 2001 with theater admissions up early in the year after slipping about 3 percent in 2000.
Speaking to reporters ahead of his address at the ShoWest convention here, Motion Picture Association of America chief Jack Valenti said admissions at this point in 2001 are up about 25 percent versus the same point in 2000.
Strong showings of last year's holdovers like “Cast Away” and recent blockbuster “Hannibal” have boosted admissions.
Valenti and John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners, told reporters that about 44 million fewer people went to the movies in 2000 versus 1999. Admissions fell to 1.42 billion from 1.46 billion in 1999, or about 3 percent. Since the end of the year, however, admissions are up by 66 million.
“The recovery has begun for us, and the recovery has been very strong,” Fithian said.
Valenti said the average production cost of a film increased in 2000 to $54.8 million from $51.5 million in 1999 and the average cost of marketing a movie rose to $27.3 million from $24.5 million.
For exhibitors, Fithian said he saw the influx of new investors as a positive sign that will bring about leaner and more healthy movie theater chains. He also was not concerned about a possible economic recession, citing the fact that traditionally people have flocked to movie theaters during recessions as a low-cost form of entertainment.
'Saturday Night Live' Posts Big Sweeps
by Rick Kissell
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) – Despite not starting until nearly Sunday morning on one occasion, NBC's “Saturday Night Live” has delivered its best February sweeps ratings in three years.
According to Nielsen, “SNL” averaged 9.3 million viewers overall for its four February broadcasts, a 22% improvement vs. a year ago. Its 4.7 rating, 18 share in the coveted adults 18-49 demographic represented a 17% boost over 2000. (Each adults 18-49
rating point represents 1.24 million viewers, 1% of the U.S. total.)
The show was delayed until nearly midnight in much of the country on the first Saturday of the sweep by the network's opening-night coverage of the XFL, NBC's fledgling football league.
It was a strong month for the “SNL” gang, which also delivered hearty ratings for its two live 20-minute Thursday primetime episodes.
NBC also remained solid in latenight for the week ending Feb. 25, as “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” notched its 50th consecutive victory in adults 18-49 (2.5/12) and again prevailed in total viewers (6.1 million). CBS' “Late Show With David Letterman” matched its best 18-49 rating of the season (2.0/9) and averaged 4.6 million viewers.
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