National CineMedia has renewed its long-term affiliate agreement with leading regional movie theater circuit Cobb Theatres and is also adding four new regional theater circuits to its network to further expand its national reach and geographic coverage.
Under the terms of this exclusive long-term renewal, 14 Cobb Theatres with 206 screens and approximately 7.5 million annual attendees will continue to be a part of the NCM’s cinema network and present NCM’s FirstLook pre-feature program to its patrons.
NCM also signed long-term cinema network affiliate agreements with three new theater circuits; Fox Theatres, Atrium Stadium Cinemas and White Mountain Entertainment. Movie Tavern, which was recently acquired by NCM Affiliate Southern Theatres, will also now join NCM’s network in accordance with Southern Theatres’ existing advertising affiliate agreement. These new affiliates will add a combined 25 movie theaters with 188 screens and approximately 6.2 million annual attendees to NCM’s cinema advertising network in markets including New York, Dallas/Fort Worth, Atlanta, Houston and Phoenix.
“Our renewal with Cobb Theatres and the addition of these four high-quality regional theater circuits to our cinema network further strengthens our competitive positioning versus other regional and national video advertising networks,” said Kurt Hall, NCM’s president and chief executive officer. “We look forward to working with these new cinema partners to bring their patrons an excellent entertainment experience through our FirstLook pre-show.”
NCM says its cinema network is the largest digital in-theater network in the United States, with exclusive, long-term cinema advertising agreements in place with founding member exhibitors AMC Entertainment, Cinemark Holdings and Regal Entertainment Group, the three largest exhibitors in the country totaling approximately 1,250 theaters and 16,560 screens. In addition, NCM has network affiliate relationships with over 30 top regional theater circuits representing approximately 330 theaters and 3,320 screens. With the addition of these network affiliate renewals, NCM’s national cinema network totals approximately 1,580 theaters and approximately 19,880 screens.