PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios.

History

The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a film aggregates the demographic make-up, opinions about the film, impression of the film's marketing, when tickets were purchased, and plans to buy or rent the film on home media. The service was designed by Kevin Goetz, the founder and CEO of Screen Engine. The service was launched in 2013 by Screen Engine and

Rentrak Rentrak Corporation is a global media measurement and research company serving the entertainment industry. Rentrak is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, United States, with additional offices in the United States and around the world. In February ...

; the latter provides box office data to studios. PostTrak focuses on wide releases and polls audiences across 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada, where past services focused on three or four markets. Most of the six major studios have subscribed to the service, as well as several distributors. ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' wrote in 2013 that the polling firm

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

had monopolized the film industry for three decades but received criticism for "relying on outdated polling techniques and too limited a sample" and would be challenged by PostTrak. While CinemaScore polls on an A+ to F scale, PostTrak assigns a positive score percentage on a 1–100 scale, among other reactions, such as how likely an audience member would be to recommend the film to a friend.

Acquisitions

With comScore's 2016 acquisition of Rentrak, the service is owned by comScore and Screen Engine.

References

{{reflist

External links

PostTrak
at comScore
PostTrak Real-Time Polling Service Expands to Theaters Overseas
at ''

'' Film organizations in the United States Market research companies of the United States