Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Ticket Sales went… well…
In an almost textbook example of what to do, and what not to do when inundated with high levels of traffic to one’s virtual door, ticket websites Fandango and Cinemark had wildly divergent responses to the avalanche of would-be customers trying to buy tickets to the live simulcast of The Day of the Doctor, the 50th anniversary adventure of Doctor Who, premiering globally on November 23rd.
Sales were to start at 9AM Eastern time, but as the hour came and went, a link for sale never appeared on Fandango. and save for the single Twitter post above, there were no explanations from Fandango or updates as fans hammered the site, searching for the correct page. In their stead, BBC America provided the updates.
Some users reported the tickets for the 11/23 event were to be found on theater pages for the later re-broadcast on the 25th.
Dan Slott, writer of Superior Spider-Man, had the extra handicap of attempting to contact the site from New Zealand where he’s attending a convention…
As patience and nerves wore thin, the response by fans on Twitter and other social media was predictable – equal parts emotional and hilarious.
https://twitter.com/WHOFAX/status/393731536773599232
https://twitter.com/dewalt/status/393745908975669248
Cinemark, on the other hand, had quite another action plan. They kept in touch with fans via their twitter feed almost constantly, letting them know when particular theaters’ tickets were going on sale, and as they sold out, the chain made the decision to dedicate more screens to the event, quickly both putting more tickets up for sale, and alerting the fans to the good news. Indeed, they were still adding screens in some theaters as recently as 5PM.
The reaction by the fans was the diametric opposite to that of Fandango – praise and celebration was rampant.
https://twitter.com/CoastingAlong/status/393861358820675584
https://twitter.com/Kayla980/status/393767852773474304
Both companies are still reviewing the events of the day, and have not shared details and explanations of how things transpired as they did. As most of the theaters running the special were part of the Cinemark chain, they may have had an advantage of being able to move proactively on the quick sellouts, while Fandango could only relate the information the theaters presented to them. The delay in getting the sales pages up on time was certainly an issue, and as new spread, one that Cinemark was able to capitalize on.
While tickets have now sold out for the live event on the 23rd, tickets are still selling quite well for the rebroadcast in over 300 theaters on Monday the 25th through Fathom Events. Fathom specializes in live digital broadcasts of special events, including opera and popular music concerts, classic film presentations, and live UFC events. In addition to the Doctor Who event, they’ve also partnered with the MST3K alumni at Rifftrax who have presented several “Live riffs” of films like Plan Nine from Outer Space and Night of the Living Dead.
Fathom says the Doctor Who event has brought the “largest surges of traffic ever” to their website, and sales have been astoundingly brisk. They’re overwhelmingly pleased with the results so far, as well as the working relationship they’ve shared with the BBC in setting up the event. They’re hoping the audience will also bring new eyes to their other events as well.
The lesson hopefully learned by the various companies involved (and those who may want to hitch their wagon to this star in the future was also posted on Twitter.
The Quest is The Quest.
