10/07/2007

The typical film consumer in Sweden is young, urban and literate and prefers to watch films at home. Although Internet downloading is not yet a threat to cinema-going, its rapid growth is undeniable, according to a Swedish report recently published by the SOM Institute for Gothenburg University.

Today, 80% of Swedish households own personal computers (nine times more than in 1996), 78% have an Internet connection, 77% own a video player and 75% a DVD player. Films are viewed mostly at home: 57% of the people interviewed in the SOM poll say they watch films on TV, 25-28% on DVD, video or on cable TV, 14-16% on the Internet and only 10% in cinemas – even if all film lovers feel that viewing films on a big screen is the most gratifying experience (72% of interviewees).

Those who show the strongest appetite for films are 15-19 year-olds, who say they enjoy watching them on all media, including on their computers, while downloading films is a growing leisure activity. According to the report, the number of youngsters within that age group who admit to having downloaded a film over the last year has grown by 20%. But other segments of the under-40 population who are downloading films are also growing rapidly.

If film downloading has not yet had an impact on cinema-going – as only one in five people in Sweden has admitted to having done it over the last year and less than one in 15 on a weekly basis – the numbers are rising rapidly and the threat is undeniable, says Rudolf Antoni, author of the SOM report.

Overall, cinema-going in Sweden has remained stable over the last decade, at an average 16.4 million. Only 10% of Swedes go often to the cinema (at least once a month) and base their choice on a film’s subject matter (with a preference for comedies, then thrillers, drama and action), then the quality of the viewing experience in the cinema. Among the least important factors is the name of the director and film reviews.