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media-drenched blog

Who owns America’s movie screens?

Fade to black: The covid-19 pandemic of 2020 forced extended closure of more than 40,000 movie screens in 5,500 commercial movie theaters in America.  It is a devastating blow to an industry already facing long-term structural competition from stream-at-home movie services. How will the industry sort itself out when theaters re-open? Here are the major players to watch.

AMC Entertainment, since its acquisition of Carmike Cinemas in 2016, owns 8,380 screens in more than 600 U.S. theaters. The company is a subsidiary of Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda, which is owned by Chinese tycoon Wang Jianlin. [ticker: AMC]

Regal Entertainment, a division of the British chain Cineworld,  owns 7,361 screens in the USA

Cinemark Theaters, which also owns Century Theatres and Rave Cinemas, operates 4,518 U.S. screens

Smaller movie exhibition chains include:

Sources: Company reports, via qz.com

Internet and smartphone growth have slowed, Mary Meeker reports

Mary Meeker’s 2018 report on the state of the internet, via ReCode

In her annual state-of-the-internet report, Mary Meeker sizes up changes last year and emerging trends for next year. Here are a few of many takeaways. Review all of the slides below.

  • Smartphone and internet growth have slowed. With more than half the world online, there are fewer people left to connect. Time spent online, however, is still increasing.
  • Voice-controlled products like Amazon Echo are taking off.
  • Tech companies are facing a “privacy paradox.” They’re caught between using data to provide better consumer experiences and violating consumer privacy.
  • E-commerce growth is accelerating; physical retail sales are continuing to decline.