Why don't cinemas display film times?

All the cinemas near me display the times above the foyer where you buy the tickets. The also have them above the door with the title of the film. It seems strange that they wouldn't do this, what if you just popped into the cinema to see what is on, you know spur of the moment kind of thing.
 
My local Cineworld used to have a screen displaying film times and screen numbers as well as displaying the film title above the door of each screen. But now the display screen no longer works and each screen just has the number of the screen and not what film is showing. They have a poster with the times outside and actually stick one of their info leaflets over the display screen. I have a feeling they are doing this to stop people hopping from one film to another.
 
The question was simply why some cinemas didn't display film times. I would have thought that in order to maximise ticket sales they would display the information prominently in the cinema so that customers can choose a film on the spot as well as looking up the times in advance.

Or, for example, if they missed the start of a film due to traffic, delays on public transport etc, they could choose another film which hadn't started yet. This has actually happened to me in the past and the cinema I went to did have times on display, but the one I went to recently did not have any display screens in the area where the tickets were sold.
 
I used to work at that cinema in Park Royal and there are screens above the food counter that have film times and also the food prices too, The box office also has it, and is only manned at busy times. So maybe someone turned the plasmas off accidently, cause the plasmas always use to be switched on. Either that or they're broke, which happened once when I was there. Thinking about the cinema now it wasn't that great, but it is an old building and its the cheapest Vue in London (well was this time last year), so you get what you pay for really!

It's not like a cinema in Westfield or anything it's a stand alone building not part of some indoor complex, so chances are you go in there specifically to watch a film. I know there's a gym and bowling alley there, but most people knew what film they wanted to watch.

I do like the Westfield Vue as they have big plasmas as soon as you go up the escalators.

As for another poster wanting film times to change to start on Monday, I sort of agree. But Fridays are when new films are released so that's why they change them on Fridays. Also doing it earlier isn't good for them as they change film times based on how popular they were the previous week. So if a film flopped they'll only have 1 or 2 showings on.

Working at a cinema you get to learn all these things lol. I don't work there now thank god. minimum wage, stupid unstable hours - 16 one week, 40 the next. So if you get stroppy 'Guest Assistants' that's why they're stroppy :p
 
Interesting to think of the Vue at Park Royal as an old building (it was built in 1994). It has been refurbished somewhat recently but it still has the old-school Warner Village design with the non-stadium seating which is very close to the screen at the front. On the other hand the picture and sound are good. Westfield is good but not cheap with some performances over
 
Westfield is cheap for regular screenings - cheaper than my local - Finchley Road. Scene screen and 3D are expensive, but regular screens are reasonable.

1994? didnt' realise it was that new, it feels much older lol. Even the refurb couldn't shake that old feeling lol. Then again the screens havent been refurbed or the toilets.
 
Back
Top