Final Regulatory Assessment and Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Final Rule - Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability by Public Accommodations - Movie Theaters; Movie Captioning and Audio Description

Finally, auditoriums are categorized based on the movie projection system utilized (digital vs. analog).  According to the data presented in Section 3.1.1, approximately 98 percent of all indoor auditoriums exhibit digital movies.¹⁶  Most of the large movie theaters are operated by the largest firms in the industry (Regal, AMC, Cinemark, etc.), and these firms have already converted their auditoriums to digital projection systems.  Therefore, the Final RA assumes that all auditoriums operated in Megaplex and Multiplex movie theaters have converted to digital projection systems and are exhibiting digital movies.  All remaining auditoriums exhibiting digital movies are assumed to be distributed proportionally across Miniplex and Single-Auditorium movie theaters.  

As a result, the Final RA assumes that 90 percent of indoor auditoriums operated in Miniplex and Single-Auditorium movie theaters exhibit digital movies.  Table 3-6 shows how this percentage is applied to the number of indoor auditoriums in 2015 (Section 3.1.1) to calculate the number of auditoriums exhibiting digital movies by venue type in 2015.  All indoor auditoriums exhibiting digital movies are subject to the rulemaking, and their costs are estimated in the Final RA.  The potential costs to indoor auditoriums exhibiting analog movies exclusively¹⁷ are analyzed separately in an analysis in Section 6.3 as part of a discussion concerning regulatory alternatives the Department decided not to pursue.

Table 3-6 : Calculation of Number of Indoor Auditoriums Exhibiting Digital Movies

*Totals may differ due to rounding

All new auditoriums opening after the 18-month compliance date are assumed to exhibit digital movies.  The Final RA assumes that new auditoriums will purchase the necessary captioning and audio description equipment in the first year of operation.  Auditoriums that close during the analysis period are assumed to be proportionally distributed among auditoriums that exhibit digital movies and auditoriums that exhibit analog movies.

Figure 3-2 shows how the percentage of auditoriums exhibiting digital movies increases over the period of analysis. In 2016, approximately 98.3 percent of all auditoriums exhibit digital movies.  By 2030, the final year of the analysis, nearly all auditoriums (99.5 percent) are assumed to exhibit digital movies.  This is consistent with the industry trend as very few new movie releases are available in analog film format.