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Comparison

SEATmio vs Rentrak

Rentrak reports what theaters took. SEATmio reads how full each screening is, from the first presale to minutes before the show. One is the official record, the other an early and independent signal.

About Rentrak

Rentrak is the box office measurement business known until 2026 as Comscore Movies (Box Office Essentials among others). In May 2026 Comscore sold it to Advaya Capital, and it returned to the Rentrak name it carried before 2016. It is the industry's reference for grosses, built on transaction data from theater box offices. It also runs PostTrak exit polls with Screen Engine/ASI and partners with Gower Street on forecasting.

Rentrak is the better fit when

  • You need actual revenue, the figures the industry settles and reports on.
  • You need the official reference for a market: rankings, market shares, historical grosses.
  • You want audience feedback from exit polls (PostTrak).

SEATmio is the better fit when

  • You want presales per screening before release, day by day, by country, and chain.
  • You want occupancy: how full the rooms were, not only how much they took.
  • You want an independent read that does not depend on cinemas reporting.
  • You work in markets or on titles you have no box office subscription for.
  • You negotiate screenings and want to see how each chain programs your film: prime time, room sizes, who took your slots, and when the next program is out.

Side by Side

What is measured
RentrakBox office revenue and admissions reported by theaters.
SEATmioSeats sold in each screening, and so tickets and occupancy. Revenue is estimated from those tickets at each country's average ticket price.
Where the data comes from
RentrakTransaction data collected from theater box offices, as Rentrak describes it.
SEATmioThe seat maps theaters publish for online booking. No agreements with theaters, no personal data.
When you see it
RentrakReal-time and historical, according to Rentrak.
SEATmioSame day. Presales are read repeatedly before release, the final read minutes before the show.
Access
RentrakSubscription. Pricing is not published.
SEATmioBy agreement after a short call, with a trial scoped to your markets, chains, or titles.

Using Both

Most distributors will keep Rentrak as the reference for revenue. SEATmio adds what happens before the numbers are final: presale pace, occupancy, and the supply of screenings per chain, which helps decide screen counts while they can still change.

Where SEATmio Falls Short

A fair comparison has to say this too.

  • SEATmio estimates tickets from seat maps, and revenue from those tickets at each country's average ticket price. It does not report box office takings, and seats sold at the counter after our last read are not included, so our figures can differ from official grosses.
  • We only see chains that publish seat maps online. Some chains and markets are missing, and some are read less often than others.
  • For most chains our history starts when we began reading them. Presales are recorded from September 2026, so comparisons with the presales of earlier releases will come once there is enough history.
  • We count seats, not people: no demographics and no surveys. Our interest index is built from public signals, not from asking audiences.

See Your Market in SEATmio

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Sources

  1. Rentrak Movies - rentrak.com
  2. Advaya Capital acquires Comscore Movies, restores Rentrak name, Deadline (2026)
  3. Comscore sells movie division to Advaya Capital, TheWrap (2026)
  4. Comscore Form 8-K, May 27, 2026
  5. Comscore Global Box Office Reporting
  6. PostTrak exit polling
  7. Comscore and Gower Street partnership (2019)

Rentrak is a trademark of its owner. SEATmio is not affiliated with or endorsed by it. Information about Rentrak comes from its own public materials and the trade press listed above, checked on 2026-10-05. If anything here is inaccurate or out of date, write to [email protected] and we will correct it.