Dr Arthur Russel, a Melbourne dentist and an accomplished musician, originally started Hoyts Cinemas. Ltd after he began showing programs of short pictures at an old leased hall on Saturday nights. Shortly before his death at the end of World War I, the company had expanded into the Melbourne suburbs and Sydney. In 1926, a merger took place between the interest of Hoyts Pictures Pty. Ltd., Electric Theatres Pty. Ltd and Associated Theatres Pty. Ltd. The new entity became know as Hoyts Theatres Limited. By 1932 Twentieth Century Fox had secured a major shareholding in the company and in August 1982, Twentieth Century Fox sold Hoyts to a group of businessmen. In 1985 the Fink family purchased Hoyts and became the sole owner. Over the years since then, Hoyts has expanded worldwide and has become one of the top-ten cinema chains in the world. Hoyts is now privately owned by Consolidated Press Holdings and has over 1500 screens worldwide. Hoyts Cinemas are an important part of Australia's entertainment industry. As of February 1999 Hoyts had 268 screens nationwide with plans to have 50 further screens added each year over the next five years (Cave 1999). In Perth, there are currently 8 major Hoyts complexes with multiple screens at each. Hoyts' main competitor in the Australian Cinema Industry is Village Roadshow/Greater Union Cinemas. As of February 1999, they had 463 screens nationally with plans to implement 137 new screens over a five-year period (Cave 1999). Greater Union currently has 4 major complexes in Perth with a total of 36 screens. The area of differentiation between Hoyts and Greater Union is very small as both currently offer similar promotions, similar services and a similar consumer experience. Hoyts also has a number of smaller competitors in the Perth Cinema market. These include Luna Cinemas in Leederville and Northbridge, Cygnet Cinemas in Como, Windsor Cinema in Nedlands, the Paradiso in Northbridge a!.
