Moviepass Places More Restrictions

-
Things only seem to be getting worse for Moviepass. After a tireless summer of revising its popular subscription service from the introduction of surge pricing to increasing the subscription fee, the company stated last week that with its $10 monthly plan, users will be able to watch 3 movies of their choice, a drastic change from one year ago where the service allowed subscribers to watch a movie per day, which gave the service its "unlimited" brand. But now, the company is experimenting with another revision in which users will only be allowed to watch between two movies. On August 10, subscribers could only choose to watch critically-disdained horror film "Slender Man" or critically-acclaimed "Mission: Impossible Fallout." While "Mission: Impossible" would still be a good alternative, the showtimes were limited, being available only on 2:30PM and 10:45PM, for instance at an AMC in Times Square. Quite the opposite of "unlimited."

Why do this? With most tickets (varying by state) valued around $11-13, Moviepass automatically loses money when a subscriber uses its $10 service for one movie. The more movies the user watches, the more cash the company will burn. Already, it is burning through an average of $21 million per month, and its persistent cash issues are responsible for several service outages as the company needed to receive funding from its "merchant processors" to buy the tickets. These outages have occurred weekly, with the most recent being Friday evening of August 10, its third weekend in a row. So, ironically, the company needs to force users to not go to the theaters, which contradicts the company's ambition of revolutionizing the movie industry. As a result, it is limiting users between two movies that they can watch - one that is rejected by the acidic reviews and one that must fit your time schedule.

If Moviepass continues these desperate tactics to attain profitability, the company may start losing subscribers and eventually cease to exist. With such a risky business strategy, AMC Stubs-A-List may seem like the better alternative for discounted ticketing. Read The Better Deal: MoviePass vs. AMC Stubs A-List to understand the service's advantages over Moviepass.

What is your opinion? Do you think the company will survive, or be one of those ambitious startups that only die with their vision? Comment your answer below.

For more information about Moviepass, its plans for success, and its debt crisis, check out the video below.

Related Articles:


Comments

Post a Comment