Tinker Theater shutting down Published Dec. 14, 2012 Tinker Exchange TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- The motion picture industry's conversion from 35mm film to digital drives is making it difficult for theaters like the one on Tinker to survive. Traditional film reels are becoming increasingly more scarce as the transition takes hold and they will soon be completely unavailable. The effect has already been felt at the Tinker theater, as officials have had to cancel showings almost weekly due to unavailability of film. "Due to the popularity of pay-per-view, DVR and Internet streaming, theater patronage has declined steadily," said Tinker Exchange General Manager Brenda Hyland. "Because of that, regretfully, we see ourselves forced to cease our theater operations." Ms. Hyland said the decline in moviegoers has resulted in reduced revenue, causing the theater to operate at a slight loss for several years now. "The purchase of a digital system, which would allow us to continue screenings, would add approximately $1,000 per month to the theater's depreciation expense for the next 10 years," she said. "We have made severe economies over the past year, but an increase in depreciation of this magnitude would make the operation of the theater prohibitively expensive, especially in light of the low numbers of patrons." The last showing at the Tinker Theater will be on Dec. 29.