PRESS RELEASE
European Audiovisual Observatory
MEDIA Salles
Strasbourg / Milano, 12 May 2011

Europe: digital screens more than double in 2010 with 3D as the driving force again.
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Food for thought from the figures on digital screens as at 31 December 2010

According to the statistics provided by MEDIA Salles the number of European screens equipped with DLP Cinema or SXRD technology at 31 December 2010 came to 10,346 with a 120.9% rise compared to the previous year.
Compared to the total number of screens in Europe, at December 2010 digital screens had achieved a market penetration of 29%, as against 13.4% the previous year (table 1).
The rate of market penetration for digital screens, where the highest figures are to be seen in Luxembourg (73%) and in Belgium (65%), also experiences considerable changes on the biggest markets, reaching to beyond the European average in the United Kingdom (38%), in Russia (38%) and in France (34%) and instead remaining below the overall rate for Europe in Germany (27%), Italy (23%) and Spain (19%).

The number of digital sites in Europe at December 2010 was 4,120, with a 74.1% rise over the previous year. The total market penetration of digital sites amounts to around 33% as against 18.7% in December 2009. Also on the increase is the average number of screens in digital sites which has risen in Europe from the 1.6 screens per site registered in December 2007, to 2.5 in December 2010.

Table 1: Digital cinema screens and sites in Europe (as at 31 December)

Source: MEDIA Salles

The average number of digital screens per cinema varies a good deal in individual European countries. In December 2010 the highest figures were recorded in Belgium (6.8 screens per cinema), Luxembourg (4.8), Portugal (4.8), Austria (4.3), Latvia (3.7), Romania (3.6), Estonia (3.5) and France (3.5) (table 2).
Of the largest markets the lowest figures are to be seen in Italy (1.9 screens per cinema), lower than the United Kingdom (3.1), Spain (2.6) and Germany (2.2).

The biggest markets in terms of ticket sales also have the largest percentage of digital screens out of the overall total for Europe, so that France comes in first place with 18.2% of Europe’s digital screens, followed by the United Kingdom (13.6%), Germany (12.1%), Russia (9.1%), Italy (8.8%) and Spain (7.3%).
As regards a comparison with the 2009 growth rates, the greatest development has been seen in the Scandinavian countries, i.e. Denmark (+444% compared to December 2009), Norway (+339%) and Sweden (+308%). Instead, if we consider the five-year period between 2006 and 2010 the compound annual growth rate is greatest in Russia (+293%), in Portugal (+216%) and in Finland (+206%), countries where the number of digital screens has increased considerably, especially up to 2009.

Table 2: Digital cinema sites and screens in Europe by country (as at 31 December)

Source: MEDIA Salles

In Europe the development of digital screens seems to be highly concentrated in terms of exhibition companies in view of the fact that at December 2010 the top ten exhibitors were responsible for 32.4% of the overall number of digital screens. The top five players are Odeon and UCI Cinemas Group (with 8.0% of digital screens), operating as Odeon Cinemas in the United Kingdom, as UCI in Austria, Germany, Italy and Portugal and as Cinesa in Spain; the French company Europalaces (4.8%), operating in Switzerland, France and Netherlands; Cineworld Group (3.9%), present in the United Kingdom and Ireland; CGR (3.7%) operating in France, and Kinepolis (2.3%), present in Belgium, France and Spain.

As in 2009 3D cinema was again the motor for growth: the penetration of screens equipped with 3D technology with respect to the overall number of digital screens has continued to increase, with the only exception of Spain, rising from 74% in December 2009 to 81.5% in December 2010.

In some countries in Central and Eastern Europe, such as Croatia, Lithuania, Serbia and Slovenia, where the number of digital cinemas is still modest, as well as in Iceland, 3D screens represent 100% of total digital screens.
In many countries the penetration of 3D digital screens compared to the total number of digital screens is over 90%: Russia (99.6%), Turkey (98.5%), Hungary (98.2%), Sweden (96.8%), Poland (95.7%), Denmark (95.6%), Switzerland (94%), Bulgaria (93%), Italy (92.3%), Finland (92%), the Netherlands (91.7%), Greece (91.5%), the Czech Republic (91%) and Latvia (90.9%). The percentage is, however, lower in the United Kingdom, where it grew from 71.1% in December 2009 to 77.9% in December 2010, and in France, where it rose from 69.4% to 74.5%.

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Notes for Editors:
- Data have been collected by MEDIA Salles.
- Europe is defined as the 34 countries covered by MEDIA Salles with regard to digital cinema data.

The European Audiovisual Observatory, Council of Europe
Set up in December 1992, the European Audiovisual Observatory's mission is to gather and distribute information on the audiovisual industry in Europe. The Observatory is a European public service body comprised of 36 member states and the European Community, represented by the European Commission. It operates within the legal framework of the Council of Europe and works alongside a number of partner and professional organisations from within the industry and with a network of correspondents. In addition to contributions to conferences, other major activities are the publication of a Yearbook, newsletters and reports, the compilation and management of databases and the provision of information through the Observatory's Internet site (http://www.obs.coe.int).

MEDIA Salles
The MEDIA Salles project has been operating since 1991 within the framework of the European Union's MEDIA Programme, with the support of the Italian Government. MEDIA Salles fosters the theatrical distribution of European films. This aim is pursued both by events involving Europe's cinema exhibitors and by initiatives to raise the visibility of European productions with industry players and potential audiences. Current initiatives from MEDIA Salles dovetail in a programme with a triple focus - training, promotion and information. Training initiatives are specifically aimed at exhibitors and include professional courses on digital cinema. Information services include the European Cinema Yearbook and the DGT online informer, the newsletter focusing on digital cinema.

Contact at the European Audiovisual Observatory:
André Lange (Head of Department, Information on Markets & Financing)
andre.lange@coe.int - tel.: +33 (0) 3 90 21 60 00

Contact at MEDIA Salles:
Elisabetta Brunella (Secretary General)
infocinema@mediasalles.it - tel.: +39 02 67 39 7823

CICAE, the International Confederation of Art Cinemas, is organizing the 8th edition of its training Course “ART CINEMA = ACTION + MANAGEMENT” (Venice, 3 – 10 September 2011, during the Festival), open to young European art cinema exhibitors.
The ambition of the "Art Cinema = Action + Management" training is to hand-on to professionals the specific know-how (methods, tools, ideas, contacts) for programming, animating and managing a cinema theatre dedicated to the distribution of quality cinema and European films.

This year the course is proposing the “Executive session” specifically dedicated to experienced professionals, that will take place from 8 to 11 September 2011.

The application form is active on www.cicae.org and all information is available on the website: contents, synthesis of previous editions, rates & scholarships.

For further information and enrolment, please log on to the CICAE website at:
http://www.cicae.org/en/formation/europeenne (in English)
http://www.cicae.org/fr/formation/europeenne (in French)
http://www.cicae.org/it/formation/europeenne (in Italian)