(Yicai) Aug. 5 -- China Film Group, a major state-owned movie distributor and producer, has tested livestreaming events from the Summer Olympic Games being held in Paris at cinemas to provide a different viewing experience and attempt to diversify cinemas' operations again.

China Film cooperated with China's central radio and television, which hold the Olympic Games broadcasting rights, to livestream table tennis, badminton, diving, volleyball, basketball, soccer, and other matches at hundreds of cinemas with needed capabilities nationwide, Yicai learned.

The stream of the Olympic Games opening ceremony in cinemas generated a box office of CNY1.4 million (USD195,935), mainly from residents in second-tier cities, according to movie ticketing platform Beacon. Women made up the majority of those watching the events at cinema theaters.

"Our cinema livestreamed the table tennis' mixed doubles final on July 30, with tickets priced the same as for films that day," said Wang Yaoqi, general manager of a movie theater owned by China Film Cinema Investment in Shanghai's Pudong district. "The match was broadcast in the biggest hall with 442 seats and almost all were occupied, except the first three rows, which were not available to the public."

Watching games at cinemas has a different ambiance than watching them at home, Wang said. Big screens have more delicate textures and a more immersive sound, while other viewers around also heighten the aura, Wang noted, adding that livestreaming the Olympic Games is a good business model that can enrich content at cinemas.

The cinema in Pudong only showed the opening ceremony and the table tennis final so far, with the former attracting less than 100 people, which was aired after midnight, Wang pointed out. However, inquiries about the cinema's schedule to stream the Olympic Games have kept coming after information spread that events can be watched there, dispelling some concerns, according to Wang.

People willing to watch table tennis matches at the cinema accounted for most who checked about it online, so finals in other disciplines from the sport at the Olympics will also be livestreamed, Wang said. 

Watching sports at cinemas can reach premium audio-visual effects only enjoyed by a handful of live audiences with good seats, Sun Jiashan, an assistant researcher at the Central Academy of Culture and Tourism Management, told Yicai.

"Cinemas' capacities to play movies are in excess," Sun pointed out. "Recovering investment costs is a realistic problem for operators. Introducing new business models of watching sports can help ease cinema chains' huge operating pressures and help the development of the industry."

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev