Advertising company wants to put commercials closer to movie start times

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Thursday, January 9, 2020
Company wants to put commercials closer to the movie
BIG SCREEN CHANGE: If you show up late to the movies to avoid the commercials, you may soon be out of luck.

SAN FRANCISCO -- One advertising firm plans on packing more commercials into your movie-going experience. You won't be able to skip them by showing up late.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, National Cinemedia CEO Tom Lesinski plans on running commercials closer to the actual movie instead of previews. He made the announcement during a webcast from the Citi 2020 Global TMT Conference in Las Vegas.

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Normally movies have 20 minutes of advertising before trailers and one minute of advertising for prime time spots. That one minute before the film could soon become six minutes.

Lesinski said theaters are one of the rare places people pay attention and advertisers want to capitalize on that.

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Lesinski also said we can expect political advertising at the local cinema as the 2020 presidential election nears. "It would be really disruptive," Lesinski said.