| Ticketron was a computerized ticket selling company which emerged during the 1970s. The service Ticketron offered was simple. Fans could purchase tickets to major theater events, rock concerts, and arena shows without standing in line--all for a one dollar service charge. Thanks to an intuitively appealing marketing campaign and an aggressive consolidation strategy, Ticketron snowballed into an institution during the 1980s. Movie ticket collectors often specialize their albums by only gathering Ticketron and Ticketmaster stubs. However, Ticketron had a serious competitor: Ticketmaster. Over the course of the 1980s, Ticketmaster slowly edged in on Ticketron's business. What's curious is that Ticketmaster actually charged more per ticket then Ticketron did. Nevertheless, Ticketmaster's even more aggressive marketing and consolidation strategy worked, and by 1991, Ticketmaster actually swallowed up Ticketron to become pretty much the sole supplier of computerized tickets. Today, Ticketron-cum-Ticketmaster faces new pressures from online ticket retailers. While arenas and major venues still sell many (if not all) of their tickets through Ticketmaster, discount buyers have tried to get into the online sales game. Although these secondary companies often have tickets for sale after Ticketmaster sells out, they simply can't compete with Ticketmaster in terms of pricing, availability, and customer service. Some critics of the organization have contended that Ticketmaster bullies its competition. These critics face an uphill battle, since Ticketmaster's market advantage is far from a monopoly. It remains to be seen how the ticket sales industry will be shaped by the advent of new technologies. Perhaps theater owners will aggressively start marketing online and thereby chip away at Ticketmaster's market. |
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