Movie theaters are one of the many sectors of the entertainment industry forced to shutter as the coronavirus pandemic sweeps through the country. With nowhere to showcase their films, some Hollywood studios opted to skip theatrical releases entirely (in the case of Universal’s “Trolls World Tour” or Disney’s “Artemis Fowl”) or launch early on home entertainment (as with Focus Features’ “Emma” and Sony’s “Bad Boys for Life).
To help analyze facts and figures from the temporary shift to digital, Screen Engine, a Los Angeles-based data and analytics company, is launching a weekly service that reports on how audiences are responding to premium video on demand content for major movies.
The virtual post-viewing data, titled PostVOD, will be an online survey of POV consumers, measuring audience composition, viewing behaviors, motivators and levels of satisfaction.
“The current COVID-19 crisis is having a dramatic shift in the digital release of movies which otherwise would have debuted in a theater,” Kevin Goetz, founder and CEO of Screen Engine, said in a statement. “We are seeing an acceleration in consumers demonstrating their desire to see what they want to see, when they want to see it, and where they want to see it.”
The report will also include movies that are being released for digital purchase significantly earlier than normal, including Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog,” Pixar’s “Onward” or Warner Bros.’ “Birds of Prey.” Data will cover U.S. audiences for now, with expansions in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia coming soon.
“PostVOD provides insights into demographic and psychographic composition, the specific person/people in the household who watched, overall satisfaction, sources of awareness, influence, and movie-specific motivators,” said Mark Orne, executive VP of cross platform. “Additionally, we are providing analysis on primary reasons for PVOD, which retailers/providers were accessed, user experience, value, and likelihood to use again.”