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The cultural barometer 2015: over 50% of the country population did not go to the cinema or to any festival
According to the cultural barometer on 2015 approximately 80% of the country population have never been to a film in a classical cinema hall and over half have never been to a festival organised in the locality they live.
The National Institute for Research and cultural formation (INCFC) was launched on Monday 26th September.’The Barometre for cultural consumption 2015’ the most important statistics analysis of the cultural sector in Romania.
According to the INCFC manager Carmen Croitoru there will be launched a study made together with ArCub at the level of Bucharest.
In 2015 there was 10 years since the Barometre measures the level of cultural consumption in Romania being the only study of this kind at national level, built on similar European models. The anniversary edition comprises three major themes – preferences, practices and trends – which synthesize the main directions for research of the barometer and which surprise the ample character, tridimensional of the cultural system. Specific themes for the 2015 edition are ‘ cultural management’ ‘ digital piracy’, ‘ visual arts’ ‘ film and cinema’ ‘ young people, culture and creativity’ and ‘ cultural festivals’.
Non-public cultural consumption
Watching TV is the first in the top of consumption preferences at national level, according to the Barometre of cultural consumption 2015, study launched on Monday 26 September by the National Institute for Research and Cultural Formation.
According to the study after TV follow TV films (watching films on TV -84%), listening to music(75%), radio (66%) newspaper reading (42%) magazines (32%) or books.
Over the last 12 months, 38% out of the interviewees at national level have never read books, 21% read only once or twice the whole year, 14% - once, twice a month, 12% weekly, 7% stated they read daily, under one hour/a day, 5% read between one and three hours /day, and 3% of the country population stated they read daily over three hours, according to the answers received by those who made the Cultural barometer.
Neither newspapers nor magazines had a massive consumption in 2015. 32% and 35% respectively stating they have never read newspapers, and magazines respectively. Around 20% of the interviewees read once, twice a week (newspapers and magazines) while 13% (newspapers) and 16% (magazines)have done it one or twice the whole year. A percentage of 13% (newspapers) and 17% (magazines) of the Romanians read once, twice a month and 16% (newspapers) and 10% (magazines) read daily ( one hour a day) according to the study.
At the same time, watching TV meant occupying over three hours a day for 30% of the total of interviewees, 35% stated they watched TV between one hour and three hours, 23% -one hour, and 1% stated they did not watch TV at all during the last year.
Watching films on TV kept occupied 16% of the interviewees over three hours/day, 30% stated they watched 1-3 hours/day, 22% - once, twice/week while 7% said they watched movies broadcast by television once, twice a month, 8% stated they did not watch movies at all on TV over the last year.
Watching films on DVD/bluray occupies more than three hours/day of the programme of 1% of the population. Approximately three quarters of the interviewed ones 70% said they did not watch movies on DVD. A total of 11% watch movies on DVD once, twice a year;7% - once, twice a month; 7% - once, twice a week; 2% - less than one hour a day; 2% between one and three hours.The internet is used by 54,7% of the people at national level,44.6% stating they did not, and 0.7% offered the answer ‘ I don’t know/I don’t answer.
As regards the source of acquisition of the music, if in 2008 only 24% of the interviewed got music from the internet, in 2015 approximately 44% of them stated they downloaded music from the internet ( free of charge or on money).
Thus, in 2025 40,9% downloaded for free, 3% downloaded for money, 5.7% bought CDs, 15.9% took for free from friends and a high percentage 33.1% stated they did not use music at all.
As for movies, except for the percentage of those who do not consume at all, (41.%) the main source was free download from the internet – 24.6% (fewer than in the case of music).
17.9% stated they watched movies or serials from friends or acquaintances, 7.1% stated they downloaded by paying ( more than in the case of music), 6.7% bought DVDs with movies.
A possible explanation for the fact that 13.8% paid for the movies watched at home would be the fact, that over the last years in Romania has developed a series of systems through which the people could pay subscriptions to watch a movie – the study explains mentioning online platforms such as the audiovisual media on request voyo.ro, digiplay or HBOgo.ro, etc.
Public cultural consumption
The frequency of participation to public cultural events was analysed on the basis of the approximatel number ofparticipations to events such as going to the cinema, opera, classical music, local festivals, theatre, museums, art exhibitiions, entertainment shows over the last 12 months before applying the questionnaire. And the frequency of participation to cultural activities in the public space over the last 12 months ‘ is shared’ 29% - very rarely, 26% - rarely, 23% never, 16% often, and 6% very often.
Depending on the type of the event most interviewed participate one every 4-6 months or more often to local festivals (31%), go to the cinema (28%) to entertainment shows (22%) and theatre shows (17%).
Although apparently in the public space we have an inflation of festivals, the public participation is very low at national level. According to the cultural barometer on 2015 over half of the people (58.2%) never went to a festival organised in the locality they inhabit over the last year. 23.4% said that they went once, 13.3% - participated to a festival once every 4-6 months, 4.2% - once every 2-3 months and under one percentage point (0.8%) took part monthly to festivals.
Cinema
Although there is a need for cinema consumption, the weak network of public cinema halls or private halls at national level makes that approximately 50% of the population could not have access to a cinema hall in the locality.
Approximately 80% of the interviewed have never been to a movie in a classical cinema hall in the last year.
Cultural consumption of the young people
On the other hand, there were evident the first positive results of the policies and programmes for the stimulation of cultural consumption among young people with ages between 14 -30 as the percentages mostly positive for all categories of age show that there has been created a habit of culture consumption.
Thus, in the last year, the young people stated they went to the cinema (71%), to the theatre (49%) museums/exhibitions (48%) library (35%) classical music (14%) opera (11%) and 62% took partin different shows of entertainment of music.
The volume’ Barometre of cultural consumption 2015, preferences, practices and trends’ is a study whose aim is to provide statistical relevant and updated data for the policies and projects of the different organisations and cultural institutions, at central and local level.
The study uses representative survey data at national level. The national sample had a volume of 1067 people aged over 14 and with a theoretical error margin of +/- 3% at a level of trust of 95%.
A sub-sample of 400 people representative for Bucharest was included with a theoretical error margin of +/-4.9% at a trust level of 95%. The data collection was made by the Centrul de Sociologie Urbana SC CURS SRL between 5-22 November 2015.