Topic 5: Changes in the number of TV-goers and Film-goers
From the curve chart given above, we can observe that the number of film-goers and TV-goers experienced some changes over the past decade. From 1975 to 1985, the number of film-goers decreased rapidly from 80 million to nearly 10 million. During the same period, the number of TV-goers increased sharply from less than 10 million to approximately 100 million.
The curve chart informs us of the phenomenon that there exists an opposite tendency between film-goers and TV-goers. Many reasons can account for this phenomenon, and the followings might be the most critical ones: for one thing, by improving the quality of programs, the TV-industry has retained a large body of televiewers and attracted quite a few potential viewers that would have swarmed into cinemas. When it comes to the cinema, the reason why it slackens might be attributed to the change of people’s consumption idea, people in increasing numbers hold the opinion that the ticket fare is sometimes too high for them to afford. Besides, by taking advantage of the convenience offered by the Internet, people can download their favorite movies from the websites directly instead of sitting in the movie theater, which also reinforces the inexorable decline of cinema industry.
Whether the film industry will continue to shrink away or not is still unknown. However, no one can deny the fact that movies play an indispensable role in enriching our lives. Perhaps one day, the cinema industry will enjoy a revival, time will tell.