Netflix co-founder radical entrepreneurship: paid subscription to movie tickets,$10 per month

Michaelo was an early executive at Netflix and now runs a startup called MoviePass. Starting on Tuesday, MoviePass cut the price of a paid subscription to movie tickets to $9.95. For $9.95 a month, customers can enter any cinema in the United States on any day to watch a movie, as long as the cinema accepts credit card payment. When subscribing members watch movies, MoviePass will pay the full fare to the cinema, excluding 3D or IMAX movies.

MoviePass may lose a lot of money by doing so. That's why MoviePass sold most of its stake to Helios & Matheson Analytics Inc on Tuesday to raise cash. Matheson Analytics is a publicly traded data company based in New York. The two companies would not disclose specific financial terms, saying only that MoviePass plans to IPO by March next year. Helios & Matheson CEO Ted Farnsworth (Ted Farnsworth) says their goal is to expand their customer base and collect data related to viewing habits. Eventually they can use information to send targeted ads or other marketing content to paying subscribers. "the model is no different from Facebook or Google," says Farnsworth. The more we understand our fans, the more we can target them. "

as long as it can boost sales, cinema operators will certainly welcome it. The market capitalization of the big four cinema operators fell by $1.3 billion at the beginning of the month due to poor summer revenues, with the highest market capitalization being AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc). Ticket sales in the United States and Canada fell by 2% last year, and box office receipts increased by 2% due to higher ticket prices. According to Box Office Mojo, ticket prices have almost doubled in the past 20 years. The average ticket price this year is about $8.89, which may be higher in some cities.

B Riley & Co. Analysts pointed out in a report to clients that investors may misunderstand MoviePass's business model. If MoviePass can bring more audiences to cinemas, film projectors will undoubtedly benefit, although the overall impact is small.

MoviePass was founded in 2011 with a business model similar to that of fitness membership. MoviePass hopes to make money from members who pay $30 or more a month, but don't use the service frequently enough. Michaelo, a co-founder of Netflix and a former president of Redbox, a rental self-service terminal operator, became MoviePass CEO last year. MoviePass, a private company, is reluctant to disclose its membership and financial information.

Why is the cinema industry going downhill? Michaelo believes there is an important reason, and he wants his company to solve the problem. 'High ticket prices are the main reason people are leaving, not competition from Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, 'Mr. Michaelow said. "people really want to watch more movies, but they just don't like the deal," Michaelo said. "

Edit: mary