text: This “has worked for years in Latin America and Canada,” NATO chief John Fithian says — and could begin as an experiment in one U.S. state by the end of this year. “There are meetings this week about doing a test with a discount.” Although NATO has a state in mind, Fithian declined to say which one is being considered. He adds that studios have to endorse the concept. It makes sense, he says, because “our capacity is so unused,” which is why “we are looking aggressively at it.” Fithian says he can’t disclose much because so many decisions have yet to be made, and to avoid the possibility of violating antitrust laws by appearing to set prices. NATO “could never set what the discount could be … [it] would have to be a concept that this is the day in which theaters discount.” 
   
   Get Deadline news and alerts sent to your inbox. ||||| If American movie-theater owners have been super hardcore about one thing, it’s ticket prices. No matter what the Europeans and Canadians do, no matter how many startups try to hack into ticket pricing, exhibitors for years have refused to budge. 
   
   Until now. 
   
   The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) announced Tuesday that it’s launching an off-night ticket-discount experiment sometime this year. But rather than dive in, they’re carefully dipping a toe: Only one state, which hasn't yet been revealed, will host the program, and it will run only for a limited time. 
   
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   It's hardly a full-scale ticket-price surrender, but it’s still a notable concession. Theaters have been uniformly steadfast in their stance against ticket discounting; they’re fine to honor coupons and membership points for popcorn and Junior Mints, but if the sign on the box office says $14.95, it’s gonna be $14.95, from sea to shining sea. 
   
   That’s largely because studios are promised a hard cut of each ticket; any discount would slice directly into the theaters’ take. Startups like Groupon and MoviePass, which set out to offer unlimited moviegoing for $50 a month, have tried to break through. But they’ve had only limited success, largely withering in the face of intense exhibitor and studio pressure. 
   
   NATO Chief John Fithian announced the plan at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, where hundreds of movie-theater owners — from major chains like AMC to mom-and-pop venues — rub elbows with the Hollywood studios’ elite once a year. But what’s meant to be a love-fest has, in recent years, become an incubator for tension. Issues of shrinking theatrical windows (the period of time between opening day and digital homevideo release), studios’ secret premium VOD — and now discounting — have clouded the air at Caesar’s Palace. 
   
   Fithian stressed that exhibitors in other countries have buoyed their bottom lines with weeknight discounts, but Hollywood has held fast to the old chestnut that doing so devalues movie tickets across the board. Let people spin the turnstiles for six or eight bucks on Tuesday, the thinking goes, and they’ll be less likely to pay $15 or more on Friday. 
   
   Box-office grosses seem to soar to new heights year after year, but actual ticket sales have been flat or in slight decline, with ticket prices and premium formats (3D and IMAX) inflating revenues. 
   
   Though the exhibition community likes to repeatedly say the sky’s not falling, it looks like some are ready to at least get out their umbrellas.
target: – Got a free weeknight? Going to the movies may soon become a more affordable option. Last year, US movie theaters sold 1.34 billion tickets, down 1.5% from the year before. And ticket sales dropped 11% between 2004 and 2013, the Motion Picture Association of America reported yesterday. To combat the trend, theaters are mulling a coordinated move: They may drop ticket prices on one weeknight a week, the Wall Street Journal reports. The National Association of Theatre Owners plans to try it out in one state this year. Which night will be cheap night isn't yet clear. The move would run counter to theaters' current habit of raising prices each year—a trend which has resulted in higher revenues despite lower ticket sales. Last year, for instance, the average ticket price was $8.13, up from $7.96 in 2012. Box-office sales, meanwhile, hit $10.9 billion, compared to $10.8 billion in 2012. The cheap-day system "has worked for years in Latin America and Canada," says theater owners association head John Fithian, per Deadline. Studios will have to agree to the plan, he notes—and the industry has feared that lowering prices one day a week will lead to people opting not to pay the higher weekend price, Mashable points out.