Exploring the socio-demographics of screen choice for film-viewing

The current climate for film exhibition is uncertain, with pandemics and digital platforms all presenting potential for major changes in the way people watch film. To explore this, we looked at the Beyond Multiplex wave 1 survey data (conducted in four English region outside London, between October 2018 and January 2019) to examine which types of screen people use to watch films. Also, who it is that watches films on each type of screen. Overall, we found that although people watch films across several screens (usually four different types), age features in the number and types of screen the watch more than any other aspect. However, even age has only a limited impact – in general people are diverse in the screens they use across various socio-demographic measures. In short, we argue that audience research could look at new ways of identifying patterns amongst people’s engagement with different screens rather than focussing on demographically defined groups.