So for those of you who don’t know, Moviefone started off as a dial-up service for checking on movie times that was founded back in 1989. The service at one point operated a nationwide toll-free number (800-777-FILM) and numbers in 67 local area codes across the states. Back in 1999 Moviefone was acquired by AOL in a $388 million stock deal. Then in 2014 AOL shut down the phone service and tried to repackage Moviefone as a wider entertainment destination that had more news and other content. Then Helios and Matheson acquired Moviefone in April of 2018 from Verizon, who had acquired the site via it’s AOL deal for $1 million in cash and now worthless HMNY stock. So how is the site doing now?

According to Variety, the site finds itself on life support as their owners Helios and Matheson had to declare bankruptcy after its unsustainable losses from MoviePass, the dead theaters subscription service. The current net value of Moviefone’s intellectual property is estimated to be at about $4,379,504 which is 1.1% of what it was acquired for back in 1999. Helios and Matheson had reported total assets of under $10 million in their Chapter 7 filing, which makes Moviefone one of their most valuable assets.

Almost all of Moviefone’s employees were laid off at the end of January after the Chapter 7 filing. But they did keep one staffer to keep the site running. Their general manager, Matt Atchity has been retained by the trustee overseeing Helios and Matheson’s liquidation to keep the site going pending the sale of the property. Currently the site’s film’s listings are automated, with showtimes linking directly to AMC Theaters, Regal, Cinemark and others. The used to also have an on-line ticket partnership with NBC Universal’s Fandango. The site’s mobile app was disabled after Helios and Matheson’s acquisition of the site and they directed users to download the MoviePasss app instead. They wanted to boost their theater subscription service’s subscriber base.

I remember as a young kid calling Moviefone to plan out an afternoon with my dad to watch a film. Of course with modern technology we don’t need a Moviefone service as everything is at our fingertips. It will be interesting to see what happens to the site.

Do you have any good or bad memories using Moviefone? Let us know in the comment section below!

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Source: Variety