Swiss cinemas report drop in admissions in first half of 2024

The decline in cinemagoers has continued so far this year. Swiss films and smaller cinemas are holding up better than big US productions and multiplex theatres. According to the provisional figures, Swiss cinemas reported some five million admissions in the first six months of 2024, the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) said on Friday. This is 6% down on 2023. Multiplex cinemas with eight or more screens were hit harder by the decline with a drop of 12%, while cinemas with fewer screens fared better and recorded a drop of 2%. US films lost some of their dominance: their market share fell from 64.3% in the first half of 2023 to 61.9% this year. On the other hand, the market share of Swiss films increased: at the end of June this year, it was 8.9%, 1.3 percentage points higher than in June 2023. With over 246,800 admissions since the beginning of the year, the Swiss film “Bon Schuur Ticino”, released at the end of 2023, is in third place among the most-viewed films in Switzerland this ...