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There are a lot of sites that offer local Show times. To name a few: MSN, Yahoo, Amazon and there are lots of others that I can't think of right now. Does anyone know where these sites get the information? I just don't believe that they check every theater site every week to get updated showtimes. Also, does anyone know how to correct mistakes. For example, I was just on MSN and while they had the show times mostly correct, they listed ticket prices of 3 years ago. Assuming that there is a central site where all these services get their information, shouldn't there be a central site where a theater manager could go to correct mistakes? Thanks. Linda

This is something I am interested in as well.

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"Would you like fries with that?"

A few years ago NATO and Hollywood.com got together for this--I never did sign up, and now am thinking about it--it was free then--who knows now? --anyway--theatres fax their schedule to Hollywood.com when known, the rest seems to be interconnected, as the same info shows up at many websites, as mentioned in Linda's post.

I agree that my fax to Cinema Source seems to put the information on more websites than I will ever know. Their fax # is 1 888 438-0043 and it doesn't cost anything to send your information in. I am not sure how to explain it but Hollywood Online is connected with them and as the fax # I used to use for Hollywood Online doesn't work anymore, I only send to Cinema Source aside from my local papers and Tribune Media Service in Colorado which puts together the Movie Clock for many newspapers. BTW - NATO and Hollywood Online did not renew their contract when it expired this year but I haven't noticed any difference.

As far as correcting errors? Not a chance. I have even tried refaxing all the same places when an error is found on Friday hoping that it will be corrected, but they never change anything once the first fax is input. We just explain the error to customers at the window and hand them a magnet with the theater phone number explaining that we will always run by the taped message on the answering machine. We always double check our ads before they are sent but errors can creep in if a booking change is made or the data entry clerk makes a mistake.

Pricing errors - that is another knotty matter. Several years ago we participated in a local paper's website for which we supplied pricing, facilities and parking info. It was all correct at the time. But you know how times change. I never had a telephone number to call a real person and our weekly fax contains the correct pricing. We still couldn't get it changed. Every so often people would complain about seeing the "All seats $2.00" pricing on the website and we would have to explain that we didn't have any way to contact them to get it changed. Finally, they pulled down that website and connected up with a different service so that I don't get that complaint anymore. That doesn't mean I still don't hear "You used to be $2.00" at the window from people who haven't darkened our door since January of 1999 when we last showed a $2.00 movie.

I send in my info to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . They used to be quite accurate, but for the last month or so they have screwed up my dates/times almost every week. Seems that would be hard to accomplish when only dealing with one screen! When did the NATO contract with Hollywood.com expire? Maybe there is a conspiracy going on.

I knew that the NATO/Hollywood.com contract had expired and like you, Beckwith, I haven't noticed any difference. As far as I know my fax to them goes through every week. The number I use is 203-438-0043. I also fax show times to someplace called Premier Data Vision at 800 901-8854 (I know nothing about them). So I guess between the two sources the times go out to everyone. And I guess that's why there are differences in information. Some of the sites list my mailing address and some list my physical address. And there are some sites that list don't list me at all. It sounds like this is something else in which we have no control. I just wish that we could make people understand how little control we smaller theaters have. Thanks to everyone for their answers. Linda

I was just coping down the number that Beckwith gave me for Cinema Source and realized that its the same number that I gave for Hollywood Online except for the fact that one is toll free. I guess I'll have to make some changes and continue my research. Thanks again. Linda

Hi Linda,

I work with a lot of smaller theatres maintaining their web sites and updating showtimes. To do this, I work fairly extensively with Cinema Source, as that is where my data comes from. They are really quite easy to work with, and in my experience they have always been happy to work with theatres to ensure accuracy. If you call TJ Albright at Cinema Source -(203) 438-8389 - I am sure he will be willing to work out a system with you to check your schedules and correct them quickly if there is an error.

Of course, in my business, ensuring the accuracy of showtimes is vital. If you are interested in an intermediary, I'd be happy to talk to you about how my company can make this process even easier for you.

Jack Gordon
Front Row Marketing, LLC
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

As a service to our customers we allow RTS users to post their showtimes to www.readyticket.net directly from their Point of Sale software with the click of a button, they can deep link from their own website to ours or they can send customers directly to our site.

Examples would be www.mooretheatres.com or www.stlouiscinemas.com


Greg Borr
RTS