grim22 Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 (edited) Looks like a competitor to Cinemascore is emerging: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cinemascore-retreat-as-studios-turn-648341 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. Ed Mintz founded CinemaScore in 1979 and today runs the company with his son, Harold, out of their suburban Las Vegas home. Every Friday, they dispatch pollsters to about five theaters around the country. By 11 p.m., studio clients who pay between $30,000 and $50,000 for annual subscriptions receive a report listing the grade, along with a demographic breakdown by age and the main reason each moviegoer turned out. PostTrak, by contrast, polls 20 theaters in diverse markets across the country. Rather than a grade, the service provides more detailed demo information, including an audience's ethnic breakdown. It also probes a film's marketing campaign and whether trailers, TV ads or social media helped lure someone to the theater. (Rentrak won't reveal the cost of a subscription.) Screen Engine's Kevin Goetz, who ran test screenings for years for the studios, is the architect of PostTrak. Edited October 18, 2013 by grim22 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impact Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 5 theaters around the country? Well that explains why I have never seen them 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dementeleus Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Five theaters?! What an appallingly low sample. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impact Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Considering also in 1979 a megaplex be about a 4 screen theater.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wadey Wilsoney Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 CS completely showed how flawed their system is when they screwed up Gravity's rating.If PostTrak can give better results then I'm all for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichWS Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Five theaters? FIVE? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Marvel Fanboy Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Yeah 5 theaters ... they survey 100 people for each movie. Already quite busy for the pollsters to handle since every weekend they are a few new movies coming out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AniNate Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Surely there's a way to streamline the process, isn't there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TLK Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 PostTrak sounds interesting. and they have the right idea. A data rich analysis of "what went right" or "what went wrong" is far more important to studios than a "playablity" analysis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Given how diverse the domestic market is five theaters would tell you jack shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeCee Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 (edited) Some kind of app based system on a phone would probably work better these days. Edited October 19, 2013 by DeeCee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Marvel Fanboy Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Fandango have better database than this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keysersoze123 Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 LOL @ Cinemascore. We can discount this one for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
