AMC Entertainment is ditching its variable pricing program for ticketing and seats that it introduced earlier in 2023. The theater chain noted that a pilot program in three of the theaters they were testing the seating showed no real increase in cheaper front-row seats at a reduced price.
Calling it a “modest price reduction” for those front-row seats, theatergoers could also choose to sit in the Preferred Sightline section. The same study showed that those who chose this section at the start would continue to choose it. This variable pricing based on seat choice didn’t sit well with patrons upon its announcement and competing theaters did not match their programs, like Regal Cinemas and Cinemark.
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“To ensure AMC’s ticket prices remain competitive, the Sightline at AMC pilot program will come to an end at participating locations in the coming weeks, and the initiative will not roll out nationwide,” the statement by AMC read on Thursday.
With the demise of the Sightline program, AMC Entertainment will be looking into a “different type of spacious front row seating – with extensive seat recline,” according to Deadline. It also follows on the announcement that AMC will be introducing its own brand of candy that will be cheaper for theater patrons to purchase in light of the rising costs in the wake of the pandemic.
“We noticed, as a result of the pandemic and supply chain shortages, that candy manufacturers had increased their prices to us by a huge amount (some by over 30%). That got us thinking very hard about our candy, and we realized that we could manufacture a private label brand of candy to very high quality standards, price it less expensively than our current candy is priced, and have a higher profit margin,” AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron said during the company’s quarterly earnings call back in May.
AMC has already gotten its own brand in stores through other tastes. The company’s Perfectly Popcorn brand has been introduced at more than 2,000 Walmart stores, while an AMC-branded Visa card also recently landed on the market. While they are bringing in their own tasty sweets at the concession stand, Aron made it clear that branded candy will remain for “people who want it.”
