With Ster-Kinekor on life support, is there still life in the cinema business in SA?

Bruce Whitfield speaks to Mark Sardi, CEO of Ster-Kinekor.

A lot has been said about cinema-franchise Ster-Kinekor's recent announcement about plans to trim back on the number of cinemas it operates and reducing its workforce.

The reality is, fewer of us are going to the movies, less and less often.

With a plethora of other entertainment offerings available, at much cheaper cost, cinema groups are having to rethink their business strategies. 

Many 'experts' on social media suggesting they could do a better job than the current management team, with a bit of lateral thinking. 

There have also been suggestions that Ster-Kinekor emerged from business rescue too early, and therefore its finding itself in trouble now. 

The cinema group entered business rescue during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, and successfully exited the process in November 2022.

Speaking to Bruce Whitfield on The Money Show, Ster-Kinekor CEO Mark Sardi says the industry has done extremely well to survive despite many challenges, including streaming and loadshedding.  

"It's one of the few industry's that's actually survived significant technology disruptions through streaming, as well this external event of Covid, but there are some things that we need to do better, that is for sure."

- Mark Sardi, Ster-Kinekor - CEO

"New innovation that needs to be brought to bear, but I think cinema as a form of entertainment, as long as it is properly packaged, I think we can bring back that value equation to our customers. I think it's something that we'll still endure."

 - Mark Sardi, Ster-Kinekor - CEO

"If you got onto the drug of watching a streaming service at home, and you're worried about travelling through traffic lights that don't work, to a cinema that may, or may not be on, it does become a bit of a disincentive to go."

- Mark Sardi, Ster-Kinekor - CEO

Scroll to the top to listen to the full interview.