Q&A with Cineplex Media: Bringing Programmatic Power to the Big Screen

With a coast-to-coast footprint and a uniquely engaged audience, Cineplex’s cinemas have long been a key out-of-home destination for brands looking to connect with Canadians in an immersive setting. Now, through a new collaboration with Magnite, Cineplex Media is making its premium cinema inventory available programmatically for the first time. We spoke with Kristie Painting, EVP & Managing Director at Cineplex Media, to discuss the move to bring automation and precision to a traditionally manual channel, opening the door for new buying strategies and a more dynamic use of the big screen.

What motivated Cineplex Media to explore programmatic access to cinema inventory?

For us, the goal is straightforward: to make the in-theatre ad experience easier to plan and purchase. Cinema has always offered an incredibly engaging environment for advertisers, but the buying process has traditionally been more manual than other channels. Programmatic access enables us to meet buyers where they already are, offering the flexibility and speed they expect. Bringing that automation and scale to our high-impact formats fits with buyer strategies to incorporate their media into omnichannel plans. Cinema has long been viewed as premium, but less accessible – programmatic changes that dynamic.

As marketers look for high-impact, brand-building environments, the big-screen experience stands out. Being able to activate it using the same tools they use elsewhere lowers the barrier and makes cinema more practical for a wider range of campaigns.

What does “programmatic cinema” actually mean for advertisers in practice?

With Cineplex’s on-screen inventory now available programmatically, advertisers can activate Private Marketplace (PMP) or Programmatic Guaranteed (PG) deals, apply geographic and audience targeting, and optimize delivery using the same tools and workflows they rely on across digital channels. The experience is familiar, but the environment is uniquely immersive and brand safe. The benefit for advertisers is precision, flexibility, and ease of activation. Buyers can select films, genres, showtimes, and regions that align with their audience. It’s a level of customization that hasn’t existed in cinema before.

Magnite connects Cineplex’s inventory to major DSPs, agency marketplaces, and its ClearLine platform, allowing agencies to choose the workflow that best fits their teams. Our goal is to make access as flexible as possible. By working with Magnite, we’re meeting the needs of modern media planners and buyers with a solution that’s easy to activate, monitor, and report.

What kinds of audiences can brands expect to reach in theatres today?

Cinema continues to attract highly engaged, entertainment-seeking audiences. According to Vividata, 62% of Canadians aged 14–60 attended a movie in the past year. We saw over 12 million theatre visits in Q3 alone. Unlike many digital environments, cinema delivers a shared, distraction-free experience where audiences are fully present, creating a level of attention that few channels can match.

From a programmatic planning standpoint, this combination of scale and attentiveness gives advertisers confidence in both reach and impact. Brands can activate around major tentpole moments or take an always-on approach during key seasons, engaging a large and diverse audience in an environment where their message truly lands.

What early use cases or campaign types have you seen so far? What kinds of campaigns are you expecting to see?

We’re seeing strong interest from categories such as entertainment, retail, automotive, and technology, particularly for product launches, brand-building initiatives, and seasonal campaigns. Programmatic access also makes it easier for advertisers to start small, test performance, and scale investment over time.

Looking ahead, we expect continued growth in data-driven targeting by genre or audience segment, as well as regional and market-specific activations. The flexibility of PMP and PG buying supports both high-impact reach campaigns and more precision-led strategies, giving advertisers the ability to tailor cinema to a wide range of objectives.

What does this relationship mean for the future of real-world media and digital buying?

This collaboration reflects a broader industry shift, where premium physical experiences are increasingly being activated and optimized through digital tools. We see it as a foundation for what cinema can become as programmatic capabilities continue to evolve. The intersection of real-world media and automation is still in its early stages, but it’s creating new opportunities for advertisers to reach audiences in environments that truly capture attention.

We’ll continue to build on this momentum by working with buyers, whether through deeper targeting capabilities, new transaction models, or enhanced planning and reporting insights. Our long-term goal is to make cinema one of the most accessible premium channels in Canada, while preserving the high-impact, big-screen experience that makes it so valuable for brands.