Brainstorm ways a movie theater chain could grow its revenue.

Let me organise this before I list ideas. A theater's revenue is visits times what each visitor spends, on the ticket and then on food and drink, plus what it earns from people other than moviegoers. So I'll use four buckets. The first is more visits. A subscription, where a monthly fee covers a set number of films, brings people back in slow weeks. They could also show concerts, live sports and classic films on nights when the new releases are thin. The second is ticket pricing. Charge more for the best seats and for opening weekend, and less for a Tuesday matinee. Premium formats, like bigger screens and recliner seats, let the people who care pay more. The third is spend beyond the ticket. Food and drink is where the margin is. They could add a proper food and bar menu and let people order from their seat. The fourth is revenue that doesn't come from moviegoers. Rent screens out for company meetings, birthday parties and private screenings. And sell more advertising on screen and in the lobby. Those are the four areas I'd look at, and I'd size each one to see which is biggest.

Let me organise this before I list ideas. A theater's revenue is visits times what each visitor spends, on the ticket and then on food and drink, plus what it earns from people other than moviegoers. So I'll use four buckets. It could also open sites, but I'll stick to the ones it has. The first is more visits. A subscription, where a monthly fee covers a set number of films, brings people back in slow weeks. Weekday afternoons are likely emptiest, so I'd aim offers at people free then, like seniors and students. They could also show concerts, live sports and classic films on nights when the new releases are thin. The second is ticket pricing. Charge more for the best seats and for opening weekend, and less for a Tuesday matinee. Premium formats, like bigger screens and recliner seats, let the people who care pay more. One flat price gives money away on Saturday night and turns people away on Tuesday. The third is spend beyond the ticket. Food and drink is where the margin is. I believe much of each ticket goes to the studio, and the theater keeps the popcorn money. They could add a proper food and bar menu and let people order from their seat. The fourth is revenue that doesn't come from moviegoers. Rent screens out for company meetings, birthday parties and private screenings. And sell more advertising on screen and in the lobby. I'd start with food and drink and the subscription. Food and drink needs much less investment than new seats, and most of each extra dollar is profit. The subscription adds visits, and each one is another trip past the counter, provided the fee is set so frequent visitors don't pay less than today. Recliners can wait, since they need capital and remove seats. To test this I'd ask for occupancy by day and showtime, and food spend per visitor.