Ster-Kinekor has spent somewhere between R20 million to R30 million on uninterrupted power supply (UPS) units at 31 of their cinema sites in a bid to get people back to the cinema and prevent disruptions to people’s movie experience.

This is according to Mark Sardi, the CEO of Ster-Kinekor, Africa's largest cinema company, which has more than 60% of South Africa's market share. 

He said that load shedding was currently one of the biggest barriers to getting people back into the cinema in South Africa.

The global cinema industry has had a tough time over the last few years, as the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown restrictions meant that social gatherings at the cinema were not allowed. Even when cinemas reopened, this was often at a reduced capacity.

The restrictions also meant that there were fewer blockbuster movies being filmed, which resulted in less content being available to display. This is a problem that is still persisting in South Africa, according to Sardi.

Locally, Ster-Kinekor entered voluntary business rescue in January 2021, but was thrown a lifeline when asset managers from the UK and Cape Town invested R250 million in the company late last year.

Recovering attendance levels still remains a challenge. 

In June, Sardi told News24 that attendance at Ster-Kinekor was still below 50% of pre-pandemic levels. Box Office, which is a measure of the amount of money cinemas in South Africa are bringing in is at just over 60% of pre-pandemic levels.

He said there would be "some sense of normalcy" if cinemas in South Africa could get attendance back up to around 65% of pre-pandemic levels and Box Office returns to between 75% to 80% of 2019 levels.

For Ster-Kinekor, providing a cinema experience that is uninterrupted by load shedding has been critical to boosting attendance, according to Sardi.

He said that 31 of Ster-Kinekor's sites now had generators that prevented any disruption from load shedding - and 15 do not. "There is a tangible delta between those that can keep the light on and those that can’t."

People did not feel comfortable leaving their homes to drive to the cinema in the dark, when they were not 100% sure whether the cinema would have power, Sardi added.

Ster-Kinekor can now offer an uninterrupted experience at the majority of its theatres, and that has come at a price, said Sardi. 

Every UPS set Ster-Kinekor back around a R1 million. Sardi said the company had spent somewhere between R20 million and R30 million on backing up sites.

"It’s around R1 million per UPS that you have got to put in. And that’s just the capital. Obviously, you have to run these things."

Optimistic for the future

Sardi said that Ster-Kinekor was planning for load shedding to be around for a while. He added that the next nine months would be tough, but that he was optimistic about after that.

He said that Stage 1 and Stage 2 load shedding was a more manageable environment for cinemas.

"We are eternal optimists here in South Africa, but there does seem to be some light at the end of the tunnel, that we will get through it. But not without a difficult six to nine months." 

Sardi referred to the common saying of "planning for the worst, but hoping for the best" as the best description of their position on load shedding.

There are a host of other innovations that Ster-Kinekor is considering as part of the drive to get people back to the cinema.