Final Regulatory Assessment and Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Final Rule - Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability by Public Accommodations - Movie Theaters; Movie Captioning and Audio Description

The primary analysis assumes that Single-Auditorium movie theaters will not purchase Sony’s technology because there are less expensive alternatives available (Section 3.4.5).  This sensitivity analysis observes the impact to the cost estimation if Sony’s technology is included in the average unit cost estimates for Single-Auditorium movie theaters.  Table 4-14 compares the average unit costs for all equipment types with and without Sony’s technology.  The cost per captioning device increases from $466 to $727 when including Sony’s technology in the average unit cost estimate.

Table 4-14 : Average Unit Costs by Equipment Type, Including and Excluding Sony ($)

The average upfront costs for a Single-Auditorium movie theater are estimated using the scoping requirements, average unit cost estimates, and installation costs.  Table 4-15 below shows an estimate of how the per movie theater upfront costs increase when Sony’s technology is included in the average unit costs.  Overall, the undiscounted upfront costs per Single-Auditorium movie theater increase by 25 percent when including Sony’s technology in the average unit cost estimates.

Table 4-15 : Single-Auditorium Per Movie Theater Upfront Costs, Including and Excluding Sony

The impact of including Sony’s technology in the average unit costs for Single-Auditorium movie theaters on the total costs estimation is summarized in Table 4-16 below. The total costs over the 15-year period of analysis are approximately $1.9 million higher ($90.4 million) when including Sony’s technology in the unit cost estimates for all venue types, an increase of 2 percent compared to the primary analysis ($88.5 million).  

Table 4-16 : Single-Auditorium Unit Cost Sensitivity Analysis, Discounted at 7 percent ($ millions)