The top two U.S. movie theatre chains, Regal Entertainment Group and AMC Entertainment Inc., have begun to cut the listings on newspapers, showing the movie schedules at local theatres, according to Huffington Post.

In most cases, theatres need to pay newspapers to print that information. They are now, in order to cut costs, directing consumers to their Web sites or third-party sites, such as Fandango, Moviefone or Flixster. These third-party sites charge no fees for posting listings, but make money from the advance-sold movie tickets. Many of them also feature film critics and movie trailers.

U.S. online traffic to AMC's Web site was up 21 percent in July compared with one year ago, and that to Regal's site increased 18 percent, according to comScore. This effort may result in some more traction.

Although the newspaper revenue generated from print movie listing is not tracked by The Newspaper Association of America, the amount is believed to be relatively small. However, every dollar matters in the tough situation newspapers companies face, as many have to cut staff, reduce the frequency of print editions, or even shut down the operation.

Also, readers are expected to see such listings. This move may give them another reason to abandon their subscriptions, Huffington Post reported.

"For a reader, some things that are ads are actually considered news. Ads for concerts and things at clubs, for restaurants and movies - that's a reason people read," said Mort Goldstrom, the NAA's vice president of advertising.

According to Goldstrom, the listing pullback may hurt theaters as their visibility among potential customers decreases, which actually benefit competitors that still buy listings, such as some other entertainment like plays or clubs.

While planning weekend plans, people "may look at something broader than Moviefone," he added. "That's the piece that newspaper Web sites have and niche (entertainment) publications have," Huffington Post reported.