Frequently Asked questions (FAQ) about advertising in Cinema

1. What do I get for these rates of Cinema Advertising?

2. Your ad is played minimum 3 times per day and maximum 5 times per day

3. Ad is played once during the show. You can choose interval or before the start of the movie

4. Mentioned rates are for playing your ad for 1 week Friday to Thursday

I. Are Theatre Advertising rates same for all the weeks in an year?

No. Multiplexes charge a premium for playing ads during blockbuster movies. The premium on rates can be 2X to 3X depending on the movie. Please check for the list of blockbuster movies with your cinema advertising agency.

II. Are there any costs involved in Cinema advertising outside of the Advertising rate card?

1. Cinema advertising requires your ad to be in a format that is compatible with cinema screen playing. Most of the Multiplex cinema screens require the ad to be in J2K format. However, this conversion is not freely available and specialist cinema format conversion agencies do that for a fee. Advertiser can provide their ad in .MOV or .JPEG format and then your cinema advertising agency can get it converted to J2K format. Another format used by certain cinemas is UFO. However, for this you do not need to pay anything as this conversion is for free. The conversion fee of video J2K is Rs 2,500 and for slides is Rs 1,750. The conversion to J2K takes a day.

2. Another cost involved with playing video ads is Censor certification. All video ads running in theatres require censor certification. There are Censor agencies that can help you apply for Censor certificates on your behalf. The Media Ant can help you get censor certificate and charges you a fee of Rs 8,500. Please plan for 2 weeks in obtaining a censor certificate.

3. Service tax and any other cess are applicable to cinema advertising.

4. In case of off screen adverting any collateral cost is involved.

III. What are the timelines for Cinema Advertising?

Cinema advertising campaigns can only start on a Friday. It is synced with changeover of movies at the theatres. Ad needs to be provided and payment needs to be completed by Wednesday 5pm.

IV. What is the proof that my ad in cinemas is being played as per the plan?

For Multiplex cinema advertising campaigns, Inspection pass will be provided on Monday morning. You can use Cinema inspection pass to visit the theatres and watch your ad being played. On request your cinema advertising agency can arrange for an In - person inspection.

Singles screens cinema campaigns do not come with inspection passes. Single screens share the contact number or log report at the end of the campaign.

Please note that cinema advertising in India, still involves a lot of manual intervention. This might cause your cinema campaign not being executed as per the plan. If you find any discrepancy, please inform your cinema advertising agency and they will get it corrected. Compensation in form of additional days/weeks is provided for any failure in executing the cinema plan as per the schedule.

V. In what formats do theatres or Cinema advertising agencies accept Cinema ads?

Kindly refer to the table below in which advertisers can share the ad. Once this is shared the cinema format conversion agency will convert it to J2K, UFO or required cinema ad format.