Comscore Expands Box Office Measurement to West and Southern Africa

Comscore's expanded reporting will now account for more than 95 percent of all revenue and admissions collected in nine African countries

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Comscore

May 02, 2019, 09:00 ET

RESTON, Va., May 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Comscore (Nasdaq: SCOR), a trusted partner for planning, transacting, and evaluating media across platforms, announced today that it will expand its box office measurement service into West and Southern Africa. The global expansion – officially launched on March 1, 2019 – will provide box office measurement data for nine African countries, including Nigeria, the seventh most populous country in the world (population 195 million), and South Africa, the fourth largest country in Africa (population 54 million).¹ Comscore box office measurement will capture more than 95 percent of all revenue and admissions in each of the nine new countries.

"As the industry leader in providing the most trusted and accurate worldwide box office measurement, we are thrilled to continue to offer highly valuable worldwide audience data to help our partners succeed and drive business growth," said Jim Zak, senior vice president of theatrical for Comscore. "As the international box office continues to grow in importance for the industry, Comscore is giving our partners the valued ability to leverage audience insights from a massive, and relatively untapped, key emerging market."

The African film market is one of the most remarkable cultural developments in recent decades. The continent already houses a thriving local film industry in Nigeria known as "Nollywood," which is one of the largest film industries alongside Bollywood and Hollywood.² By expanding to allow for box office measurement and reporting in this densely populated, but previously underreported, territory, Comscore provides film distributors and exhibitors with a unique ability to leverage granular market insights to strategize their future efforts within Africa.

With this expansion, Comscore will provide clients with total box office revenue and admissions for nine countries across West and Southern Africa. The expansion marks another milestone for Comscore in its mission to expand its solution offering throughout the globe. Previously, in October, Comscore expanded the scope of its real-time box office and polling solution, PostTrak™ to Australia, Germany, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.

Comscore partners with film distributors and exhibitors in 68 countries around the world to create the industry box office scores which are transacted upon. Measuring approximately 95 percent of the global box office from well over 25,000 theaters, Comscore is the industry leader for providing the most accurate and trusted worldwide box office measurement and movie analytics services to help marketers and theaters optimize ticket sales and improve efficiencies across all aspects of the business.

What the industry is saying:

"We regularly distribute international films in this region, and we believe that through Comscore's expansion into the African market, distributors gain further clarity of the emerging growth opportunities available within our country," said Moses Babatope, chief operating officer at FilmOne. "The Nigerian movie-goer appreciates a broad range of films - opting to view local Nollywood productions as well as international selections. The market's varied movie interests continue to drive cinema culture, and we believe this will reflect in Comscore's analysis of the region's box office."

"Comscore Movies' continued global expansion signals just how important the international movie-going market has become to Hollywood production studios," said Patrick Lee, general manager at Ozone Cinema. "We are honored to welcome the company into our region and look forward to working with Comscore to better understand local audiences and plan for Africa's prosperous future in the international film industry."

"We are excited to welcome Comscore Movies into Nigeria as a valued partner in box office measurement that will help our vibrant film industry continue to succeed," Jared Murray-Bruce, executive director at SilverBird. "With the measurement and analytic solutions now available to the Nigerian film industry through our trusted partner Comscore, we will be able to better understand our audiences locally, as well as share their value potential with international collaborators."

To learn more about Comscore Movies, please contact us.

Sources:
¹ "COUNTRY COMPARISON :: POPULATION." Central Intelligence Agency, July 2017, www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2119rank.html.

² Obenson, Tambay, and Tambay Obenson. "As Netflix and AT&T Take On Nigerian Cinema, the Country's Film Industry Is Searching to Define Itself." IndieWire, 19 Oct. 2018, www.indiewire.com/2018/10/nigerian-prince-netflix-lionheart-1202012950/.

About Comscore
Comscore (Nasdaq: SCOR) is a trusted partner for planning, transacting and evaluating media across platforms. With a data footprint that combines digital, linear TV, over-the-top and theatrical viewership intelligence with advanced audience insights, Comscore allows media buyers and sellers to quantify their multiscreen behavior and make business decisions with confidence. A proven leader in measuring digital and set-top box audiences and advertising at scale, Comscore is the industry's emerging, third-party source for reliable and comprehensive cross-platform measurement. Learn more about Comscore at www.comscore.com.

SOURCE Comscore