Investing.com - Helios and Matheson shares were suspended Wednesday, bringing an end to its 15-year journey as a listed company.
The suspension of its shares comes a day after Helios was delisted from the Nasdaq. The shares started trading over the counter, the company said.
This may be the end of Helios and Matheson as a publicly listed company, but it marks the start of a new chapter for its subscription services business MoviePass Entertainment, which it acquired in December 2017.
Helios and Matheson said in October last year it would spin off MoviePass in a bid to separate the subscription services unit from the company's data analytics business.
MoviePass has been a problem child for Helios and Matheson as its $9.99 per month all-you-can-eat movie subscription model was fraught with issues.
The MoviePass app was clunky, much to the chagrin of customers. A move to cut back on the number of films customers could see in theaters using the subscription proved fatal as it came at a time when rivals, including AMC (NYSE:AMC), launched similar subscription plans.
But free from the shackles of Helios and Matheson, with discretion over its subscription plans, MoviePass is expected to adopt a simpler model to reel in subscribers.
MoviePass will adopt a bait-the-hook approach, or, more aptly, bait the screen with movies that MoviePass subscribers will pay to see in a bid to avoid some of the earlier pitfalls.
The road to new beginnings for MoviePass, however, is far from smooth as the experience of going to a movie theater is losing its luster to online streaming companies like Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), according to a report.
"At $46 (billion), global subscription (over-the-top content delivered by the internet) revenues will overtake box office revenues in 2019 when theatrical takings will come in at just under $40 (billion)," according to Ampere Analysis.