Even as the traditional bottom-of-the-bill second feature slowly disappeared, the term B movie was applied more broadly to the sort of inexpensive genre films that came out during the era, such as those produced to meet the demands of the burgeoning drive-in theater market.
The disappearance of classic low-budget second features led to an expansion of the term "B movie" to include inexpensive genre films produced during this era, including those created for the burgeoning drive-in cinema market.