Ballantyne Strong, Inc. (NYSE Amex: BTN), a provider of digital cinema projection equipment and services, cinema screens and other cinema products, today announced the successful completion of the final phase of the Marcus Theatres® (a division of The Marcus Corporation (NYSE: MCS)) large-scale digital cinema deployment, which included installation of 554 digital projection systems featuring NEC digital cinema projectors, in 47 Marcus locations across seven U.S. states in just 45 days. Marcus Theatres has a total of 630 digital projection systems in place at the 47 locations, including previous installations.
Following completion of the recent installations, Ballantyne’s Strong Technical Services group will provide Marcus Theatres with both after-sale annual maintenance services covering their entire circuit in addition to 24/7 monitoring from Ballantyne’s state-of-the-art Network Operations Center (NOC) based at its Omaha, NE headquarters.
President of Marcus Theatres, Bruce J. Olson stated, “After securing the requisite funding for this large-scale digital cinema deployment our next key decision was selecting an organization, or multiple service providers, that could handle the installation work in a timely manner while insuring flawless execution. Ballantyne Strong was the obvious choice for Marcus given their ability to offer us a turnkey, one-stop solution. We have enjoyed a mutually beneficial four-decade relationship with them and that is why we are also relying on their after-care maintenance expertise to keep our projection systems up-and-running smoothly, including proactive monitoring from their NOC. The fact that their Services group was able to accomplish these installations without a glitch on such short notice reflects their skills and dedication.”
“We are extremely proud of our Strong Service team’s ability to complete this large expedited deployment for Marcus Theatres, one of the nation’s leading theatrical circuits and long-time Ballantyne customer,” stated Ballantyne Strong President and CEO Gary L. Cavey. “Whether it is a 500+ screen project such as Marcus Theatres, a small independent circuit, or even a one-screen theatre, our talented team can handle any size project in a timely, efficient and cost effective manner. We also continue to focus on further expanding our base of recurring revenue by targeting maintenance and NOC business from both cinema and other related digital applications, and our Service Group’s technology-agnostic skill-set is a key differentiator for us.”
