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Money blog: The 24 minute rule – What time should you actually arrive at the cinema to avoid adverts | UK News
Per Narbeh Minassianonews reporter
Your ticket time is 7pm, but you already know it won’t start at that time.
So what time do you get to the cinema?
If you arrive at 7:10 pm you will almost certainly be safe, but if you arrive later you may be fine.
Here, we’ve gathered information from the UK’s top cinema chains and spoken to experts about how long you can expect adverts and trailers to run until the main event starts.
Cinemamundo
According to the Cineworld website, advertisements and trailers “typically last between 30-45 minutes before the film starts.”
The cinema also asks customers to collect their tickets at least 20 minutes before the indicated time “to make the most of their visit”.
Odeon
There appears to be a shorter wait at Odeon, which states that advert and trailer length is “typically 15 to 25 minutes” – but this varies with each performance and can be “considerably shorter”.
“We always recommend, to avoid disappointment, that you arrive with enough time to enter the screen at the scheduled start time of the presentation,” says the website.
Ordinary guy
There’s a greater variety on Everyman, which claims to play 25 minutes of ads and trailers.
But be careful – “the length of advertisements and trailers varies for special events and can vary between 15 and 40 minutes depending on the type of event”.
Showcase
There is no specific information on the website and we did not hear back when we reached out to them, but Showcase did respond to a customer on social media about this very issue.
In a May 2022 tweet, the theater said, “Advertised times are when ads/trailers begin and run approximately 20-25 minutes before each showing.”
View
Vue offers a more accurate window: “Be aware that most films have about 20 to 25 minutes of ads and trailers before the feature begins.”
The only recommendation is to be seated at the indicated time to “not run the risk of missing the beginning of the film”.
‘In general, it’s 24 minutes’
Karen Stacey, chief executive of Digital Cinema Media, which supplies adverts to companies including Odeon, Vue and Cineworld, told Sky News the wait is normally 24 minutes – 12 minutes for adverts and 12 for trailers.
This remains true whatever the film and whatever time of day, with about 95% of DCM’s programming “exactly the same.”
“It’s very stereotypical, it’s what consumers are used to,” she said. “By making it consistent in scope, people are always happy to come in and participate.”
She said 24 minutes gives programmers enough time to prepare the film and allow for a more staggered entry for audiences – while also generating revenue.
More than half an hour, however, is “rare”.
“Cinemas want to show as many films as possible and they want to be careful not to finish too late at night,” Stacey said.
“My experience working with them is that they are quite strict.”
Are there rules about duration?
As the above suggests, there are no set rules or procedures that regulate the duration of cinema advertising.
Kathryn Jacob, chief executive of film advertising firm Pearl & Dean, said the length was determined by the cinema.
“Some cinemas only accept one ad, like BFI IMAX, and the maximum length is determined by the cinemas themselves,” she told Sky News.
“The factors that determine length depend on advertiser demand and the films that a theater may want to show to the screening audience via trailers.”
Film policy is the key decision and she said research shows the public considers cinema advertising “part of entertainment”.
Do viewers like the ads and trailers?
Mrs. Jacob may be right.
According to research published by DCMadvertising in cinemas is more effective than in any other means of communication.
For a 60-second ad in the cinema, viewers will watch 48 seconds, a much higher proportion than on TV or social media.
It’s also highly trustworthy, with DCM citing research carried out by IPA Touchpoints stating that almost 100% of respondents say they trust what they see in the cinema – for comparison, 75% trust TV adverts.
Avid cinema-goer Bill Boswell, who pays £18 a month for an unlimited pass at Cineworld on the Isle of Wight, said he was happy to wait.
“I know these adverts help pay for the cinema to run,” he told Sky News. “Cinema is my escape, so it’s good for my mental health and I wouldn’t want to lose it.
“If I watch at home, I can sometimes pull out my phone, but a movie on the big screen would get 100% of my attention, so I just accept the pre-show ads.”
But what are the disadvantages?
The main thing Boswell considers is his car, as the nearest Cineworld offers three hours of free parking.
“Sometimes I would plan 30 minutes of trailers and come back to get free parking, since the movies already cost enough,” he said.
“If the movie is longer than two and a half hours, I park outside of town and walk to the theater.”
Consumer expert Martin Lewis raised parking tickets as one of the issues in a 2019 tweet, in which he said he waited 33 minutes for a movie to start.
Responding to one user, he said greater clarity would help customers save on parking fines and babysitters, while also giving “legitimate expectations.”
“And there is no rigorous research that prices [cinema tickets] would increase – are often defined by market demand,” he added.
Are there alternatives?
If you want to avoid the pre-show entirely, your best bet might be independent or community theaters.
The Draycott Community Cinema, for example, is the only cinema in the village of Somerset and is run by volunteers.
Committee member Chloe Haywood told Sky News they are always debating how long it will take to put on their pre-show.
They try to limit themselves to two short trailers, often without ads – although they plan to find a sponsor later this year.
“We think this prepares the audience for the screening,” she said, referring to the brief pre-show.
“We haven’t had trailers for a long time. They’re to announce the next two films, any local news that might be of interest, and then standard ‘turn off your phones’ information.”