A little content with your ads?

The New York Daily News reports that Screenvision is going to mix TV content from E! Entertainment Television with its digitally-projected pre-show ads.

Phillys Furman writes:

The advertising phenomenon is ringing up big dollars for movie theater chains. Some 27,000 movie screens have gone commercial in just the last few years and more are on the way. Last year, on-screen advertising revenues grew 20% to $438 million, as blue-chip advertisers like M&M's, Revlon and Gillette signed on. With demand growing, ad rates are rising 10% a year, [Screenvision CEO Matthew] Kearney said.

As I've mentioned before, Screenvision and its rival Regal CineMedia operate the largest networks of digital projectors in the world - explicitly to bring you ads before the feature. Screenvision has spent $50 million building its network, according to the piece. What's driving their growth?

According to [Screenvision's] own research, moviegoers who watch commercials at the movies are 44% more likely to remember them than those who saw them on the small screen at home.

Here's the most unfortunate quote of the piece: "`If we intrude on consumers during their cinema time, we better entertain them,' said Gillette spokeswoman Michele Szynal." Yeah, people love having their cinema time intruded upon by Oral-B spots.