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| yna@yna.co.kr 2026-03-19 09:48:36
SEOUL, March 19 (Yonhap) -- Nearly half of moviegoers in South Korea said they have reduced visits to theaters in the past year, with ticket prices cited as the main reason, a report showed.
According to a report on movie content consumption trends released last month by the Korean Film Council, 45.8 percent of surveyed consumers said their frequency of watching movies in theaters over the past year had decreased compared with the previous year.
Among them, 16.5 percent said it had "decreased significantly," while 29.3 percent said it had "slightly decreased."
The survey was conducted in October last year among people aged 14 to 69 nationwide who had watched at least one film via theaters or online platforms between October 2024 and September 2025.
Among respondents, 42.1 percent said their theater visits remained about the same, while only 12.1 percent reported an increase.
When asked why they reduced theater visits, 25.1 percent cited high ticket prices as the main factor. Other reasons included a lack of appealing films (21.5 percent), a wider selection of content on over-the-top streaming services (17.5 percent), and the ability to watch films through other platforms such as OTT or video-on-demand after theatrical release (17.4 percent).
The report noted that the lower the ticket price consumers considered reasonable, the higher the likelihood they reduced theater visits, pointing to a gap between perceived fair pricing and actual ticket costs as a factor behind declining demand.
A plurality of respondents, 41 percent, said a reasonable ticket price would be between 8,000 won and 10,000 won, significantly lower than the current average price of 14,000 to 15,000 won.
The report said that since the COVID-19 pandemic, rising ticket prices and inflation have contributed to a growing perception of moviegoing as a discretionary expense.
Meanwhile, 45.9 percent of respondents said their use of OTT services increased over the same period, while 41.6 percent reported no change and 12.6 percent said it decreased.
Among OTT users, Netflix was the most widely used platform at 88 percent (multiple responses allowed), followed by Coupang Play (46.8 percent), TVING (35.5 percent), Disney+ (26.5 percent) and Wavve (14.4 percent).
More than half of movie consumers, 56.1 percent, said OTT platforms were their primary way of watching films. The figure for theaters stood at just 8.3 percent, lower than TV channels (25.8 percent) and VOD services (9.1 percent).
However, the report noted that increased OTT usage did not have a statistically significant impact on reduced theater attendance, suggesting it is difficult to attribute the decline in theater visits solely to the rise of streaming platforms.
Instead, it found that those who frequently use OTT services also tend to visit theaters more often, indicating the two platforms may complement rather than replace each other.
The report concluded that multiple factors are behind the decline in theater attendance, including rising costs, the gap between perceived and actual ticket prices, limited impact of discount policies, changes in leisure activities and the growing reliance on reviews and ratings when choosing films.
Based on the findings, it called for improvements to pricing and discount structures, suggesting targeted measures such as vouchers for families of three or more and ticket subsidies for young consumers.
It also proposed introducing a holdback system to create a virtuous cycle between theaters and OTT platforms, strengthening protection of domestic intellectual property, establishing investment funds for immersive theatrical content and easing regulations on cinema spaces.
The report emphasized the need for policy responses to stabilize the film industry and ecosystem amid broader changes in the consumer environment.
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