Movie Theater Advertising Giant Closes $275 Million Deal to Expand to Offices

National CineMedia, the firm that powers AMC, Cinemark and Regal pre-shows, now has set its sights on growth outside the cinema. National CineMedia, the in-theater advertising company that works with AMC Theatres, Cinemark and Regal for pre-show commercials content, has closed a major deal to venture outside of the cinema. The firm, led by Thomas Lesinski, has sealed an agreement to acquire Captivate Holdings, which powers tens of thousands of small screens in office buildings, lobbies and elevators that show short ads and content as people walk by (or when waiting for your floor in an elevator). The deal is valued at $275 million. National CineMedia already has a foothold in this business through all of its screens showing ads in movie theater lobbies (it had 17,000 screens in over 1,300 theaters, as of its annual report).

Now it wants to bring that formula to office buildings and residential properties, too. And with Captivate’s platform, the company says it’ll have 48,000 digital screens to do so. Its primary vehicle to sell ads is its Noovie pre-show which is hosted by former Today correspondent Maria Menounos and features movie trivia, junket-style interviews with celebrities and Hollywood flashback moments mixed in with commercials. Since emerging from bankruptcy in 2023 — just as the COVID years were particularly brutal to theaters, they also