Digital signage in movie theaters increase sales

aka.tv is running an interesting story on the performace of digital signage advertising networks in movie theaters. The network that they studied was from SignActive, who is managing New Zealand’s first cinema digital-signage installations. They have found that:

"According to the operators, the new technology has already enhanced ticket and candy-bar sales – and, with the number of sites potentially increasing up to 12, more third-party advertisers are expected to take advantage of the new foyer screens. So far, the advertising space has only been offered to the cinemas’ existing suppliers, which include the likes of PepsiCo, Panasonic, Nestlé and Allied Domecq."
...
"Content is generated both locally and remotely. Live, real-time information, including movie names, times and ratings, is extracted directly from the cinema database using custom-written software specifically developed for this task by SignActive, and sent to the displays.

"But all creative content, including advertising, is distributed via a private network to the cinema locations from SignActive’s head office in Auckland, ensuring the system provides a hands-off solution for the cinema management."

While I can understasnd why suppliers would want to advertise their products in the theaters (since they're selling them there), I'm not sure what the draw will be for outside advertisers. Sure, there's a captive audience, but they're not primed to purchase outside goods while walking into a theater to watch a movie.