Home > Entertainment > Movies

Nearly half of moviegoers cut cinema visits citing cost as primary factor: survey

Published: 19 Mar. 2026, 11:35

Moviegoers are seen at a cinema in Yongsan District, central Seoul on March 8. [NEWS1]

Nearly half of moviegoers reduced cinema visits over the past year due to a variety of factors, including rising costs and the growing appeal of streaming services, a recent survey showed Thursday.

The Korean Film Council's annual survey on movie content consumption trends, released earlier this month, found that 45.8 percent of respondents had reduced their visits to local theaters from a year ago, with 16.5 percent reporting a "significant" reduction and 29.3 percent a "moderate" one.

Of the remaining respondents, 42.1 percent said their theater visits remained mostly unchanged, while 12.1 percent reported an increase.

The survey was conducted in October last year on 3,000 people aged 14 to 69 who watched more than one movie at the cinema or on streaming services from October 2024 to September 2025.

Among those who had cut back on visits, cost was the leading factor at 25.1 percent, followed by a lack of compelling movies in theaters at 21.5 percent and the anticipated availability of films on streaming services at 17.5 percent.

The survey found 41 percent of the respondents considered a reasonable ticket price to be between 8,000 won ($5.50) and just under 10,000 won, much lower than the current cinema admission price of 14,000 to 15,000 won.

Meanwhile, 45.9 percent reported increased use of streaming services over the past year, while 41.6 percent reported similar usage and 12.6 percent reported a decline.

Moviegoers are seen at a cinema in Yongsan District, central Seoul on March 15. [NEWS1]

Among over-the-top (OTT) platforms, Netflix was the most widely used at 88 percent, followed by Coupang Play at 46.8 percent, Tving at 35.5 percent, Disney+ at 26.5 percent and Wavve at 14.4 percent. Respondents were allowed to select more than one answer.

Among film viewers, 56.1 percent said OTT platforms were their primary channel for watching movies, followed by television at 25.3 percent, video-on-demand services at 9 percent and movie theaters at 8.3 percent.

But the survey noted the rise in OTT usage has not directly resulted in a decline in theater visits. Rather, it cited a variety of contributing factors, such as rising costs, the limited impact of government promotional policy, shifts in leisure lifestyles and changing viewing habits driven by film reviews.

Based on its findings, the report recommends the film industry come up with promotional policies better tailored to consumer needs, for example, offering greater incentives to price-sensitive family audiences. It also suggests the introduction of a holdback policy that would require a set window between a film's theatrical release and its availability on streaming platforms.

Yonhap