Research Shuffle for Movie ‘Playability’

A new entrant is shaking up the research niche for evaluating movies once they are in theaters, squeezing incumbent CinemaScore, says a Hollywood Reporter article. This research evaluates what moviegoers think of a movie itself, which is called playability.

The THR article by Pamela McClintock notes that “box-office tracking service Rentrak and partner Screen Engine have been testing PostTrak, a real-time, in-theater polling service that begins at 3 p.m. on Friday afternoon and runs through a film’s second weekend. As Hollywood scrambles to assess moviegoers’ shifting habits, PostTrak presents perhaps the biggest challenge ever to CinemaScore, which has been the industry standard for assessing a film’s ‘playability,’ or whether word of mouth will help or hurt it.”

The THR article also says that Cinema Score, under pressure from Warner Bros. Pictures, upgraded the rating of movie Prisoners, after complaints from the studio.

Hollywood research is in upheaval as changing lifestyles of consumers make them harder to track and get reliable consumer data. The CinemaScore and PostTrak research conduct what are called exit surveys.

Related content:

• CinemaScore in Retreat as Studios Turn to PostTrak
• Rentrak, Screen Engine Partner for Real-Time Audience Polling Service