Data in Review: The Price of Movie Tickets

Why do all movie tickets cost the same?  Movie tickets don't fluctuate in price according to supply and demand. Blockbuster sellouts and movie flops all sell for the same price. To explain this occurence, an article from The Atlantic briefly explains the history of movie prices, demonstrating that during the first half of the twentieth century, movie tickets used to cost different amounts depending on their actors and popularity. Since this time, the system gradually shifted so that ticket prices from the 1970s onwards have been generally uniform across movies.

The line graph depicts how theater attendance fluctuates through the year. Christmas is shown as the high point of the year in terms of ticket sales, while the time periods directly following Easter and Labor Day see relatively low ticket sales.

The chart does have a few shortcomings, however. The article fails to tell us the data's source. We do not know whether the graph is plotting the data from a single theater, or from an aggregate of theaters of over the course of a year. We also don't know when the data were collected. The article doesn't communicate what year or years the data come from, and there is no caption or title to further explain these details. It is also unclear what the unit of measurement is. Does 12% average weekly attendance convey the proportion of seats that are filled in a theater? Does 4% attendance during a given week represent how much that this specific week accounts for in the year's attendance?

Though displaying several trends on one set of axes, the second graph is significantly clearer. The graph shows tickets per capita and the average price of a ticket from 1929 through 2001. Unlike the first graph, the axes are well labeled and they clarify the unit of measure. Although the bar chart and trend graph are superimposed on each other, they utilize the better part of the chart area. Unfortunately, the chart does not include the source of the data or a title, both of which would further clarify the the meaning of the information being represented. It would also be useful to articulate whether admissions prices are adjusted for inflation, a factor that is necessary to take into account when looking at such a large time span.

Hardest-Working Countries in 2011

As the end of the work year approaches, the Economist’s daily charthighlights employee holiday entitlements around the world using Mercer data.  Of the 19 countries shown, Canada gives the fewest holidays per year, with a statutory minimum of 10 days and with a further 9 public holidays.  China is close behind, with 2 more total holidays per year, followed closely by the United States, who comes in 14^th with 25 total holidays per year.  The economically unstable countries of Spain and Greece rank 4^th and 2^nd, with 36 and 37 days off respectively.  Austria’s 38 holidays per year in 2011 tops the list.

For a further examination of additional employment figures, such as sick days, view the Economist’s related videographic.

Live bird transportation pushes The Twelve Days of Christmas over $100,000

USA Today and the Associated Press report that rising costs of live bird transportation and general price increases have pushed the cost of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” to an all-time high.  For the last 28 years, PNC Wealth Management has released the PNC Christmas Price Index, which is formed using the current prices of the 364 items mentioned in the 12 verses of the traditional carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”  The assortment of pipers piping, lords-a-leaping, ladies dancing, maids-a-milking, swans-a-swimming, geese-a-laying, gold rings, calling birds, French hens, turtle doves, and partridges in pear trees costs $24,263, and the total of all repeated items in the twelve verses totals $101,119, a 4.4% from the 2010 Christmas Price Index.

Online orders cost $39,860, a 64% increase from in-store prices.  The difference in price is largely due to an increase in the cost of shipping live birds, according to managing executive of investment Jim Dunigan.  Dunigan summarizes this year’s findings, stating: “the story in general is wages are still a very sluggish part of this economy,” noting that the core rate of increase is much less than the 9.2% increase in 2010.

PNC provides an interactive website to explore price changes in these well-known items (image provided above).