More bad news for newspapers surfaced on Tuesday at Regal Entertainment Group’s investor day.

The No. 1 U.S. movie chain noted that its spending on co-op advertising and movie directories is now about a quarter of what it was in 1999, shrinking from $13,000 per screen average to $3,000 per screen last year.

Dick Westerling, Regal’s senior vice president of marketing & advertising, told analysts:

We have conducted a number of surveys and analysis…clearly, customers are getting their movie and showtime information online, and newspaper has become a second or third choice.

Nor is that trend likely to turn around soon. Westerling spent a chunk of his 45-minute presentation extolling the Regal Crown Club, through which the company tracks 14 million moviegoers down to their film and concession preferences.

The program generated an above average 51 million ticket sales for those moviegoers, and costs just $1 million to run each year, Westerling said.

We can reach members on email cheaper than through newspaper advertising.

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