The number of visits to the cinema by Irish people reached 17.3 million last year, the highest level ever recorded, according to new figures.

Increasing cinema attendance helped push up cinema advertising by 39 per cent in 2002, whereas press and television advertising was much more sluggish.

The figures from EDI Nielsen and Carlton Screen Advertising show there were an average of 333,000 admissions a week last year. This was an increase of 8.6 per cent on the year before.

Admissions in Dublin were also substantially higher in 2002, increasing by 8.9 per cent to a total of 8.5 million for the year.

Last year produced more blockbusters than any other year, with a record 28 films managing to gross more than €1 million.

Admissions during November reached more than 1.6 million, with the Harry Potter and new Bond movies proving extremely successful at the box office.

Early figures for 2003 indicate that attendances will continue to grow, with a 17 per cent increase expected in the first quarter of the year. Carlton said its expectation was that admissions for 2003 would reach 18 million.

The top three films in terms of box-office takings, according to figures released by media agency Mediaworks, were Spider Man, the Movie, followed by Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring and Monsters Inc. Ocean's Eleven and Harry Potter were the other two movies in the top five.

Ms Eithne Billington, general manager of Carlton Screen Advertising, which sells advertising for more than 97 per cent of cinema screens, said businesses continued to be attracted by the broad audience provided by cinema.

She said with the increasing fragmentation of the television industry, advertisers were finding it harder to get good value in that sector.

Cinema, according to Ms Billington, could also deliver very specific audiences depending on the film. A film like A Beautiful Mind appealed to an ABC1 group, while a film like Monsters Inc attracted children, teenagers and families.

There are now 89 screens available in the Dublin region and advertising rates there are considerably higher than in other parts of the Republic. A 30-second spot on a Dublin screen costs about €121.