Frequently asked questions
What is cinema advertising and how does it work?
Cinema advertising is paid placement at movie theaters. Most of the spend goes to the pre-show: the 15-to-20-minute window between a film's posted start time and the trailers. There are also lobby placements (standees, posters, digital signage at concessions) and digital extensions that retarget confirmed ticket-buyers on mobile and CTV after they leave. You buy by market, theater list, and flight window, priced by CPM. Once your campaign is on the booking schedule, your spot rotates ahead of the films you bought weeks against.
How much does cinema advertising cost?
Pricing is set by DMA tier. Tier 1 markets (NYC, LA, Chicago, Dallas-FW, Philadelphia) run $70 to $170 CPM. Tier 2 covers DMAs 11 through 30 at $47 to $120. Tier 3 spans DMAs 31 to 75 at $37 to $90. Tier 4 covers DMAs 76 and smaller at $34 to $80. A 4-week :30 flight at a single theater starts in the low hundreds for smaller markets and reaches several thousand at top-DMA flagships. Weeks adjacent to a tentpole release (Avengers, Dune, Star Wars) cost more than standard weeks.
Is cinema advertising effective for my business?
It depends on category, but the benchmarks are real. QSR campaigns have driven 2 to 3x spend lift, auto advertisers saw +34% foot traffic, retail saw +53% incremental visits. Attention drives those numbers. Cinema delivers 2 to 6x the attention of live sports and 6 to 16x the attention of social or digital, and it beats CTV and YouTube on measured engagement. Cinema works hardest for brands targeting a younger audience and for brands that benefit from sustained, unskippable exposure: auto, QSR, financial services, healthcare, regional retail.
Who sees cinema ads (what audience will I reach)?
About 40 million people go to U.S. movie theaters each month at network scale. Median moviegoer age is 30, younger than the audience for Netflix, Hulu, or any major TV sport. About 60% are cord-cutters or cord-nevers, so cinema reaches viewers broadcast and most CTV buys can't. The audience skews higher-income and more educated than the broadcast TV average. And they're paying full attention, because they paid to be there.
Can I target specific locations or movie theaters?
Yes. You can buy individual theaters, by DMA, by state, or national. Our network covers 1,353 theaters and 17,556 screens across 184 markets and 49 states. Common buys include trade-area clusters around store locations, regional sweeps, top-market lists, or theater lists matched to specific film genres. When category fit matters, we can also segment by demographic skew at the theater level.
What types of ads can I run in movie theaters?
On-screen pre-show spots run :15, :30, and :60 in the rotation ahead of trailers. Lobby placements include branded standees, posters, screen wraps, and digital signage at concessions. Digital extensions retarget confirmed ticket-buyers on mobile and CTV after they leave the theater. Most campaigns combine on-screen with at least one extension to add reach and frequency without raising CPM.
How long do cinema advertising campaigns run?
A standard flight is 4 weeks, which lines up with one screening period. Shorter 2-week launches work for product introductions tied to a single film release. Sustained categories like auto and financial services often run 8, 12, or 16 weeks. Flight dates frequently align to a film, not a calendar. "Buying the Avengers: Doomsday weeks" means buying the dates that film is in theaters, which can stretch across two calendar months.
How do I get started with cinema advertising?
Send us your markets, target audience, budget range, and ideal flight window. We'll pull a custom theater list with CPM and pacing, walk through creative specs (file format, runtime, sound mix), and confirm placement with the theater operators. First-time campaigns typically go from intro call to in-theater in 4 to 6 weeks. Call us or request a quote and we'll send a first-pass plan within 48 hours.
