INTRODUCTION

Multiplex:

India currently has 11500 existing screens, 95% are standalone, single screens. These single
screens are poorly maintained as the owners find it difficult to upgrade and renovate their
facilities, due to unavailability of organized finance. The declining quality of these cinemas
decreased the viewers who watch movies in the hall and these viewers started using
alternative viewing options.

Over the last few years, multiplexes have emerged as a trend in urban India. Multiplexes
are essentially cinemas with three or more screens. They provide a quality viewing
experience and are generally located in shopping malls to increase footfalls in these malls.
Each screen in a multiplex has a small seating capacities in the range of 150-300 seats as
compared to single screen cinemas which have capacities in the range of 500-800 seats.

With around 11500 active screens, India is under screened. China which produces far lesser
films than India has 65000 screens while the US has 36000. Indias screen density stands low
at 12 screens per million populations. There is a need of atleast 20000 screens as against the
current 11500. This boosts up the multiplex operators to grow as the traditional single-screen
theatres do not have the financial capital nor do they enjoy tax incentives.

Key Players in Multiplex:

1. PVR CINEMAS:
PVR is one of the leading multiplex operators with very strong performance on
operational parameters. The company has been able to establish itself as one of the
premier entertainment destinations, which has resulted in the highest occupancies,
footfalls and spend per head as compared to all of the other multiplex operators.

PVR is one of the leading multiplex chains in India with 101 screens under operation
in 14 cities at present. PVR has been successful in building a lifestyle entertainment
brand because of its focus on customer service and quality of experience. Because of
the strong brand and presence at prime locations, PVR has found a very encouraging
response from the customers.
 2. INOX LEISURE:
INOX Leisure (Inox) was set up as part of a diversification strategy by its parent
company, Gujarat Flurochemicals. The company opened its first multiplex in Pune in
2002. Since then, the company has come a long way as one of the leading premier
multiplex chain operators with a strong brand recall. Starting from just 4 screens in
2002, Inox has ramped up its presence to 84 screens in 24 locations at present. While
registering a strong capacity growth in the past 4 years, the company has also been
very successful in building a strong entertainment brand for its cinemas. Operating in
an industry marked by execution delays, both the speed and the quality of expansion
are commendable considering that the promoters didn't have prior exposure to the
exhibition industry.

INOX has more than 50% of its screening the tier I and II cities, which has rewarded
the company very well in the past. It plans to add approx. 100screens in the coming 2
years, 70% of which will come up in select tier I and II cities. We believe that the
move will create value for the company as these locations are comparable to metros at
the EBITDA level.

3. CINEMAX:
Cinemax India (Cinemax) is one of the smallest multiplex exhibitors within the listed
space with 56screens across 19 properties, a majority of them concentrated in the
Mumbai territory. The company has a predominant presence in the Western region
and is the largest exhibitor in the Mumbai territory with a 35% share of the multiplex
screens in Mumbai. Cinemax is now focused on expanding its presence across the rest
of India and is seeking to aggressively add capacity across other regions.

GROWTH DRIVERS:

At a time when single-screen theatres are dying due to lack of footfalls, people are queuing
up at multiplexes that sell tickets at almost 5 times the prices prevailing in single-screen
theatres. This fact provides ample testimony to the increasing prosperity as well as the Indian
consumers willingness to pay for superior-quality entertainment.

People willing to pay for quality:

With the entry of multiplexes, which provide better quality movie watching experience at a
higher price compared to single screen theatres, more and more middle income group people
are coming back to the theatres thus unlocking a latent demand. This is a classic case of
leisure consumption winning over value proposition in India. As content supply booms, more
and more people will turn to multiplexes because of the rising willingness of people to pay
for such services.

Enough space for more multiplexes:

We believe that there is enough space for more multiplex projects given the quantum of
demand and lack of supply in the sector. Our preliminary analysis suggests that at national
level and considering only the urban population demand in the age group of 15-60 years, 662
multiplexes with 3 screens per property i.e. approx. 2000 screens can operate at 35%
capacity. All of the multiplex players combined are operating only approx. 500 screens at
present, hence, we believe that even though there might be a case for overbuild in some
pockets, overall there is enough scope for further screen supply.

OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH

To know the customers perception about multiplex and single screen theatres.
To study the customer preferences regarding their choice of watching a movie in
multiplex or single screen.
 To offer suggestions wherever necessary.

METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY

Primary Data

For our research we have used only the questionnaire survey method to conduct our analysis.
Questionnaires are of three categories such as structured, un-structured, disguised and un-
disguised. But we have used structured questionnaire for our survey. Structured question is
the one which has specified number of responses. Such questions restricted the interviewee
from giving his own answers and required them to choose from among the alternatives given.
This saves a considerable amount of time as the respondents is quick enough to choose from
among the options given to him.

Secondary data

Different published and unpublished (only online) materials basically articles from the
internet have been focused on.

We have studied and gathered information from a number of authentic sources like:

Books
Newspapers
Magazines
Internet

The Sampling Technique:

Stratified Random Sampling: we have divided the entire population into

subpopulations or strata and used simple random on each strata.

The Contact Method:

Questionnaire from different respondents

No.of Respondents:

Sample Size: 100

DATA ANALYSIS

1. Age of the respondents:

2. Gender of the respondents:
3. Occupation of the respondent:

4. Theatre preference for watching movie often:

5. Mode of booking tickets for a movie:

6. Preference of people to watch a movie with:

7. Frequency of watching a movie in hall:
8. Preference of Genre of a movie:

9. Preferred day to watch a movie in the hall:

10. Preference of multiplex over single screen theatre:

SUMMARY
This study is to understand the moviegoers preferences for multiplex compared to single
screen cinemas and the study reveals that future of the multiplexes is bright and since there is
an increase in per capita income which raised the standard of living of the people. The survey
is conducted through a questionnaire which is floated online to know the opinion of the
public as a whole. Primary data was collected through a structured questionnaire using
website for survey called survey monkey. The questionnaire discloses the preference of the
moviegoers to a multiplex or a single screen theatre and it also consists of the age and
occupation of the respondents, their frequency of watching a movie, the days they prefer to
watch and with whom they would like to go to the movie. The study will help the multiplex
and mall managers to identify various factors which lead to preference of multiplexes over
single screen theatres. The fact is quite apparent with the kind of data we have gathered
through this study which is mentioned later.

FINDINGS
 In our survey we found that out of 100 respondents majority of the people who watch
movies often comes under the age group of 19-20 and they constitute a percentage of
88 %.
We can observed that out of 100 respondents majority of the persons who watch
movies in the multiplex or single screen is Males which account of 65%.
We observed that majority of the viewers are students followed by employees and the
least who watch the movies less in a hall are business man where they are only 2-3%.
We observed that majority of the people, approx... 56% are interested in watching a
movie depending on the tickets availability in the nearest multiplex or single screen.
Apart from this the preference for a multiplex is more than the single screen.
We observe that most of the people prefer to book their tickets online as it is easy and
fast mode of getting the tickets when compared to offline where it is a time
consuming.
As majority of the respondents are between the age group of 19-25 most of them like
to visit the theatre with their friends and next preference being the family to watch a
movie.
It is observed that majority of the people watch movie monthly and weekly and there
is a very less difference between these people who watch monthly and weekly.
Majority of the respondents have given their first preference to comedy which
accounts a percentage of 69 % followed by thriller, 60 % and action genre, 54%.
It is clearly observed that majority of the respondents have no limitations to watch a
movie in the hall and it depends upon their interest to watch. But most of the people
prefer on weekends as it is their free time.
It is clearly evident from the diagram that majority of the respondents accounting 73
% of the total prefer Multiplex over a single screen theatre and majority respondents
had an opinion that it gives a world class cinema experience and a decent quality of
picture and better seating arrangement compared to single screens and convenient
show timings with more number of shows with good maintenance and service.

SUGGESTIONS
 All theatres should upgrade their surround sound system to the new surround sound
called Dolby Atmos: Dolby in the Cinema.
Offering a half priced ticket as opposed to the standard Matinee Price makes the
prospect of bringing a child to the cinema more appealing for parents.
Upgrading to recliner seats instead of usual seats which makes the audience more
comfortable.
Maintenance of the hall should be improved and ensure that it is clean all the time.
Price of the interval time stuff should be reduced in multiplexes to generate more
revenue.
Booking should be made more easy with many more apps and websites with offers
and cashbacks.

CONCLUSION
Observing the survey done through questionnaire I have come to a conclusion that
Multiplexes are being seen as providing better experience to moviegoers and there is a
significant difference in number of people visiting multiplexes with respect to better facilities
in terms of ambience, security, comfort, cleanliness and ample parking space. People still like
watching movies in multiplexes in spite of the high ticket prices so it can be said that quality
is still the top priority and they want the value for their money which can be seen by our
analysis. To keep up to the newly formed competition the single screen theatres also have to
change to the needs of the customers especially the young crowd, which constitutes the major
portion of the movie viewing population.