Media

Screenvision pushes for more ad dollars on big screen

Movie-theater owners are chasing TV ad dollars by tightening their grip on Millennials.

Screenvision, one of the biggest movie-theater ad sales firms, is touting its young movie-going audience as a way to grab some of the $70 billion that goes to television.

Moviegoers tend to be younger. Twenty percent of moviegoers are 18- to 24-year-olds — the highest level since it began its survey in 2009, according to the Motion Picture Academy of America.

The rash of blockbuster comic-book adaptations like “The Avengers,” and teen survival stories like “Hunger Games,” is helping theaters sell advertisers on their young demos.

Last year, Screenvision started TV-like sales guarantees and “upfront”-style buying opportunities, helping boost revenue by 20 percent in 2013.

The firm has picked up 50 new advertisers during the same period, including Apple, Google, Netflix and Spotify, all hoping to reach elusive young adults.

“We’ve used cinema as an effective tool and allocating more of those dollars in the past 18 months,” Eric Watson, group manager of brand marketing communications at Mazda, told The Post. “The reason is, we’re seeing good engagement.”

Screenvision CEO Travis Reid is forecasting another double-digit increase in ad revenue this year in the hopes of yet another record-breaking year at the box office.

Hollywood ticket sales reached $10.9 billion in 2013, surpassing the prior year.

“We virtually own the Millennial audience,” said Reid. “Moving a small part of a TV budget dramatically extends reach.”

Screenvision believes advertisers should jump at a limited number of ad spots that air just ahead of trailers for highly anticipated movies. Those include “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” and “X-Men: Days of Future Past.”