Why Karachi Stopped Going to the Cinema: A Quantitative Study of Audience Behaviour, Access, and Attitudes

Abstract

Karachi once had a thriving cinema culture, but most of its cinema houses have now closed. This paper looks at the audience side of that decline. Using a structured survey of 476 residents of Karachi, it measures how often people go to the cinema, why they have stopped or cut back, how they spend their media time, and what they think about cinema as part of city life. The results show that cinema going is now rare: about 64 percent of respondents go once a year or not at all, and only about 16 percent go six times or more. The most common reasons for staying away are the rise of streaming services, the cost of tickets, and concerns about safety. People now spend far more time on streaming and social video than on any screen outside the home, with reported cinema time close to zero. At the same time, respondents still value cinema. They agree strongly that it is part of the city’s cultural identity and they support public investment and cheaper tickets. A factor analysis confirmed four clear attitude dimensions (cultural value, social experience, accessibility, and institutional trust), and all scales were reliable. The strongest predictor of how often a person attends was their socio economic status, not their attitudes. A person’s class position, their perceived safety, and their gender shaped access more than their feelings about film. The paper argues that the decline of cinema in Karachi is mainly a problem of access and affordability rather than a loss of interest, and that any revival policy should begin there.

Keywords: cinema, Karachi, audience behaviour, streaming, accessibility, cultural value, media consumption