Product-Line Decisions and Rapid Turnover in Movie Markets

We present empirical evidence on a firm’s decision to eliminate a product from a multi-product line, in a market with rapid product turnover, using weekly micro-level data from a major metropolitan movie market. While film offerings are broadly similar across the market, the timing for removing a specific film varies at the theater level. Theaters are more likely to end a film’s run when the nearest competitor is showing the same film and is owned by the same chain; a film is more likely to survive when the nearest theater is showing the film, but is under different ownership. Theater- and movie-specific factors affect a film’s run length, including the film’s within-theater relative revenues, number of screens, and film rating.