MOVIEGOERS IGNORE TICKET PRICE HIKES

The recent big hike in ticket prices at movie theaters across the country has apparently not affected attendance, Reuters observed Tuesday. The wire service cited a survey conducted by BTIG at 10 theaters operated by the AMC, Regal, and Cinemark chains, which found that tickets had increased an average of 8.3 percent for 3D screenings. Despite the rise, last weekend produced the highest grossing figures for April in history with total North American ticket sales tallying $182 millions. In an interview with the wire service, Richard Greenfield, an analyst with BTIG, said that the strong results were “a very encouraging sign that consumers didn’t seem overly concerned about the ticket price increases.”