Monday, July 19, 2010

Informed Americans - Hollywood's Silent Killer

With the unsteady global market and high unemployment rates, average Americans have been trying to find new ways to save money. From hunting for coupons and shaving unnecessary costs off of what some might consider luxury items. Unfortunately the economy has been so bad, that the list of luxury items has expanded from junk food to entertainment. Restaurants have suffered during the economy since people have discovered that cooking meals at home is a huge saver. The entertainment industry has also been a victim to the brutal economy, Broadway has taken a huge hit where legendary shows have had to take its final call due to low ticket sales. While the average Broadway ticket price ranges from $40 to $100 its easy to see why people are cutting such luxuries out of their budgets. Some Broadway plays have attempted to revive their ticket sales by bringing in big names like Denzel Washington in Fences, Hugh Jackman in A Steady Rain, and Jude Law in Hamlet.


Hollywood has also been attempting to stay on top despite the so called double dip recession. With movie ticket prices continuously on the rise, especially for the 2010 year, movie goers have been highly discouraged by the ridiculous movie costs. Movie ticket prices have increased a whopping 8 percent, and average $7.35 to $7.95 in May 2010. An always outrageous markup on the snacks at the movie theater has movie goers doubting if a night at the movies is really worth it. The average price of popcorn is $6 and a soft drink is $4. With these obvious drawbacks for attending a movie, people are taking alternative methods to fulfill their entertainment needs. Popular movie rental companies mainly Netflix are ever-growing profit wise. They are a company who gets it, they offer convenience and low prices. Your are able to choose movies to add to your queue and have them mailed to your home, you return them when you're done to exchange for your next requested movie. There is no worries about late feed or any type of inconvenience. You can buy an entire box of microwavable popcorn for the same price as one overly buttered tub of popcorn from the theater.
Video streaming sites like Hulu streaming television shows and movies straight to the consumers computer. The cost of Hulu is absolutely free, you just have to deal with commercials in between segments of videos. That's a small price to pay for convenience and spending no money to view movies online. There are other options to view movies that are still in theaters or not yet released on DVD. These options are not the most noble of sites, but there will be a time where they will not be looked upon with so much disdain. Hollywood has been trying to fight these sites but it's only money down the drain. Once one falls there will always be another site there to take its place. The only way to beat these sites is to beat them at their own game, hopefully the day will come where movies in the theater will be available to view on your TV either by a pay-per-view system or commercials. Years from now the entertainment industry will look back at all their mistakes and ponder on why such bad calls were made. Consumers have actively voiced their opinions on such matters and obvious solutions, but those top executives have been trying to hold on to their coin purses using such archaic methods. Now is the time for change, with the persistent increasing use of the Internet it is certainly inevitable that high entertainment costs will not be tolerated for much longer.
To become more knowledgeable on affordable entertainment alternatives go to Netflix.com or Hulu.com to Watch Free Movies.

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