Cinemas should start films at the ticketed time and move ads earlier, with unassigned seating as the incentive
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/jeffrey-ingold. "The hill I will die on: Cinemas have been getting away with lies. Films should begin on time | Jeffrey Ingold | The Guardian." October 17, 2026. www.theguardian.com
The Gist
Cinemas say a film starts at 7.15pm but then show 20-30 minutes of ads first, which wastes people's time and causes disruption when latecomers shuffle in. The author says films should start at the ticketed time with ads running before it. To keep cinemas from losing ad revenue, he proposes dropping assigned seating so people have to come early to get good seats.
Conclusion
Cinemas should begin films at the advertised showtime, with ads and trailers played before that time, and should abolish assigned seating so that arriving early for the pre-show is rewarded with better seats.
Premises
- Cinemas advertise a start time but run 20-30 minutes of ads and trailers first, so the film starts well after the ticketed time, which is deceptive and wastes customers' time.
- Other live performances such as plays start at the ticketed time, and audiences would rightly be annoyed if they did not, so the cinema norm is an unjustified double standard that people have merely become used to.
- The current practice forces viewers to guess the real start time, and it causes disruption (late arrivals with phone torches, bumping into seated patrons) in the dark auditorium.
- Starting films on time is workable, since cinemas in Canada have done it, with ads starting before the ticketed time.
- Legislative efforts to mandate accurate start times (Connecticut, 2025) were watered down because operators feared that audiences skipping the pre-show would drive advertisers away and cut revenue.
- If seating is unassigned and flat-priced, people who want good seats must arrive early and so will watch the ads, which preserves ad revenue and removes operators' objection.
Assumptions
- Listed showtimes should reasonably be read as the time the feature begins, not the time the auditorium opens for ads.
- Cinemas' main objection to on-time starts is lost advertising revenue, and nothing else blocks the change.
- Audiences will respond to the seating incentive by arriving early and watching the ads, rather than going to other cinemas or declining to attend.
- Abolishing assigned seating and premium seat pricing is an acceptable trade-off for most moviegoers and cinemas.
- The Canadian model transfers to other markets with different business structures and customer habits.
- Playgoing and moviegoing are similar enough for the comparison to apply.