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Demographics of the Broadway Audience (ongoing)

Demographics of the Broadway Audience (ongoing)

Pootie2
#1Demographics of the Broadway Audience (ongoing)
Posted: 10/9/15 at 10:41am

(I edited the title to be more general since these stats are most interesting when discussed in comparison to other years.)

 

##### 2013-2014 #####

 

I was looking around but didn't find this Broadway League information posted to the board (I broke down the summary a little more). Anyway, since I find it quite interesting:

 

[1] In the 2013–2014 season, there was a record breaking 8.52 million admissions by tourists in the Broadway theatres, representing 70% of all tickets. Domestic tourists purchased approximately 49% of all Broadway tickets and international tourists, 21%.

 

[2] 68% of the audiences were female.

 

[3] The average age of the Broadway theatregoer was 44 years old.

 

[4] Almost 80% of all tickets were purchased by Caucasian theatregoers.

 

[5] Broadway theatregoers were quite affluent compared to the general United States population, reporting an average annual household income of $201,500.

 

[6] Of theatregoers over 25 years old, 78% had completed college and 39% had earned a graduate degree.

 

[7] The average Broadway theatregoer reported attending 4 shows in the previous 12 months. The group of devoted fans who attended 15 or more performances comprised only 5% of the audience, but accounted for 35% of all tickets (4.2 million admissions).

 

[8] Playgoers tended to be more frequent theatregoers than musical attendees. The typical straight-play attendee saw 8 shows in the past year; the musical attendee, 4 shows.

 

[9] For musical attendees, personal recommendation was the most influential factor in show selection.

 

[10] Playgoers cited a specific performer as the greatest lure.

 

[11] The most popular sources for theatre information were word-of-mouth and Broadway.com.

 

[12] 54% of respondents said they purchased their tickets online, a number that continues to increase.

 

[13] The average reported date of ticket purchase for a Broadway show was 36 days before the performance.

 

[14] 25% of respondents said that some kind of advertisement prompted them to select the show.

 

 --------------------------------

 About [7], the side note about hardcore theatergoers is quite amazing, but I wish there was a way to know how much gross that 35% represented. [9] and [14] taken together seems to imply that advertisement is still largely ineffective. Interesting.

 

[12] and [13] taken together suggests that most tourists aren't waiting around the TKTS booth or scrounging for short-timed discounts, which isn't surprising given that expensive trips to NYC are booked ahead of time.


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Updated On: 10/18/15 at 10:41 AM

Pootie2
#2Demographics of the Broadway Audience 2013-2014
Posted: 10/9/15 at 10:45am

In contrast, the Broadway TOURING audience statistics are quite different in certain places, especially what influenced ticket buying:

* The most commonly cited sources for show selection (other than being part of the subscription) were: the music, personal recommendation, Tony Awards and articles written about the show.

* The reported influence of the Tony Awards in deciding to see a show continued to grow. Twenty-four percent of respondents said that Tony Awards or nominations were a reason they attended the show, compared to 8% in the 2005–2006 season.

* Only 15% of respondents said that an advertisement influenced them to select the show and 12% said they were influenced by a newspaper critic’s review.


#BoycottTrumplikePattiMurin
Updated On: 10/18/15 at 10:45 AM

Odie2
#3Demographics of the Broadway Audience 2013-2014
Posted: 10/9/15 at 10:54am

Interesting info.

I wonder how much Twitter and social media influences ticket sales. I know that if I follow someone who tweets about a she they went to I'm more likely to be interested in that show

Pootie2
#4Demographics of the Broadway Audience 2013-2014
Posted: 10/9/15 at 11:27am

Odie2 said: "Interesting info.

I wonder how much Twitter and social media influences ticket sales. I know that if I follow someone who tweets about a she they went to I'm more likely to be interested in that show"

 

That counts as word of mouth (personal recommendation), but breaking down the numbers further into online/offline sources would be interesting, especially with the way tech is now.


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yankeefan7
#5Demographics of the Broadway Audience 2013-2014
Posted: 10/11/15 at 3:16pm

I found that interesting and there were some surprises to me. The average annual income of over $200,000 (household) was a bunch more than I expected. The average age of 44 was younger than I expected, maybe Disney shows help bring the age down - lol. I was disappointed in my gender (male) not being more interested in theater. Even if males are not into musicals, there are always some fantastic plays to see most years. I actually thought the percentage of tickets being bought online would be higher than 54%. I wonder what the percentage is that is bought from the actually box office show and what the percentage is ftom TKTS

Updated On: 10/11/15 at 03:16 PM

LittleEdieFan
#6Demographics of the Broadway Audience 2013-2014
Posted: 10/12/15 at 3:57am

It's not just for gays anymore!

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HorseTears
#7Demographics of the Broadway Audience 2013-2014
Posted: 10/12/15 at 6:22am

Very interesting.  Thanks for posting, Pootie.  Have any of the numbers changed dramatically (or moderately) from prior years?  Interested to see if there are any trends happening in demos on gender, ethnicity or age.  

Pootie2
#8Demographics of the Broadway Audience 2013-2014
Posted: 10/12/15 at 9:40am

HorseTears said: "Very interesting.  Thanks for posting, Pootie.  Have any of the numbers changed dramatically (or moderately) from prior years?  Interested to see if there are any trends happening in demos on gender, ethnicity or age.  "

 

I love graphs/charts! laugh There are a lot of other data on the BL website too. When I have a moment....


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Pootie2
#9Demographics of the Broadway Audience 2013-2014
Posted: 10/12/15 at 9:58am

Oh, yankeefan7, the average age of a Broadway theatergoer has actually been consistently between 40-45 years since 1998. (There's a sample page with charts on the Broadway League website under research reports.)


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Mr Roxy
#10Demographics of the Broadway Audience 2013-2014
Posted: 10/12/15 at 10:45am

Now you see why Broadway caters to tourists.

 

In addition, the income of $200,000 plus are those who can afford the astronomical prices. Broadway is pricing itself out of the reach of middle class people and those on a fixed income .The average New Yorker can no longer go with any regularity without the use of highly discounted tickets.They are too busy trying to make ends meet.For them, Broadway  Is only a luxury now for a special occasion.

 

Take away tourists and those with higher incomes and Broadway is in deep doo doo. 


Poster Emeritus
Updated On: 10/12/15 at 10:45 AM

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Someone in a Tree2
#11Demographics of the Broadway Audience 2013-2014
Posted: 10/12/15 at 1:15pm

"It's not just for gays anymore!"

That's actually a statistic I'd be curious to see, but don't think there's ever been a poll to test attendees' sexual identity. My unscientific sense is that the cliche of Broadway being a haven for guys is just as true now as it was 40 years ago, or 80 years ago for that matter.

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OlBlueEyes
#12Demographics of the Broadway Audience 2013-2014
Posted: 10/15/15 at 11:50pm

In addition, the income of $200,000 plus are those who can afford the astronomical prices. Broadway is pricing itself out of the reach of middle class people and those on a fixed income.


 


This is a good topic for discussion. How do the producers lower costs when many shows don't recoup at the expensive prices? Would they blame the high union wages they must pay?


 


Leaving the union issues out, one thought is that, since Broadway is such a powerful driver of tourism, should the state and local governments indirectly subsidize the theater through tax breaks, or in some other area where they are collecting a lot of money from Broadway productions.


 


What about the current schedule of most Broadway productions: eight shows a week with matinees on Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday. I've visited King and I ticket site pretty frequently. The demand for the weekend matinees is higher than that of the Friday and Saturday night shows. The Wednesday matinee is a bigger draw than the mid-week night shows. Given the power of tourism, would it help to switch a mid-week to a matinee? How about just doing this in the winter, when the dark and cold nights keep a lot of people home instead of at the theater?


 


If a show is doing worse than 90 percent (or lower?), how about dropping the Wednesday night show? Would not cutting out one night save all the expenses of putting on one show, while the audience for Wednesday night could easily switch to Tuesday and Thursday night shows.


 


 


 


 


 


 


 

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yankeefan7
#13Demographics of the Broadway Audience 2013-2014
Posted: 10/16/15 at 9:26am

"Oh, yankeefan7, the average age of a Broadway theatergoer has actually been consistently between 40-45 years since 1998. (There's a sample page with charts on the Broadway League website under research reports.)"

 

OK, thanks

 

Updated On: 10/16/15 at 09:26 AM

Pootie2
#14Demographics of the Broadway Audience 2008-2009 (in comparison to 2013-2014
Posted: 10/18/15 at 8:49am

##### 2008-2009 #####

So I actually found the full 2008-2009 report online (60-page PDF) while rooting around the internet, and it's quite fascinating (and includes some prior season data as opposed to just one season like I thought, so I intend to buy the next report). Anyone interested should be able to find it via Google. Here are some interesting trends/bits with the given data in that report, the earliest comparison season being 1980-81:

 

The percent of women theatergoers has been slowly rising. In the 1980-81 season, 58% were women, rising to 61.8% in 1990-91, and inching up with a few season dips (the average hovered around 63% for several years) to the latest known 2013-14 68% women attendees.

 

The age group breakdown is fascinating and best understood when viewing the chart, but the 2013-2014 report obviously gives more season data, lower right sample PDF: http://www.broadwayleague.com/index.php?url_identifier=the-demographics-of-the-broadway-audience

 

Household income data are VERY interesting. The average income in 2008-09 was $195,700, which isn't that far off from $201.500 in 2013-14. The 2008-09 report includes a lovely, colorful breakdown chart from the 1990-91 season skipping to 1997-98 through 2009. Unfortunately, seasonal averages weren't given (someone else could figure it out given more math), but the ratio of the highest [$150k] bracket had increased from 18.9% in 1990-91 to 37.4% in 2008-09. The LOWEST income bracket of [<$25k] had actually stayed relatively stable in the same time period from 8.4% to 8.7% (largest fluctuation between 9.1% and 6.9% in two consecutive seasons); I was surprised to see that, but maybe that means there are plenty of low-income programs for the locals. With the [$100-149k] income bracket rising slightly from 13.9% to 19.6% and [$75-99k] hovering around 14%, that means the income brackets that have fallen through the years were [$50-74k] (21% in 1990 to 12.2% in 2008-09) and [$25-49k] (23.9% to 9.2%). Now, I don't know what was considered middle class in 2008, but this was also when the economy crashed.

 

There's a method of ticket purchase section. For the 2008-09 season, in total, telephone orders comprised 7.4% of purchases; box office was 17.9%; internet 38.9%; TKTS or Broadway Concierge/Ticket Center were 13.5% together (footnote: survey respondents may have gotten them confused). Group purchases were 8.3% while 8.2% were part of package deals. 1.5% from broker/scalpers and 1.3% from a ticket outlet, 3% from the hotel concierge.  Same-day ticket purchases were around 23%. I'll definitely want to see where things are for the 2014-2015 season. So the 54% in 2013-2014 might not seem like a lot in total, but it probably vastly outstrips all the other individual methods.

 

Motivating factors in show selection for 2008-2009 (these were apparently multiple-responses questions):

 

47.3% of musical attendees went on personal recommendation. 32.8% because they like the music (so cast recordings were/are the FIRST major marketing expense). Only 17.9% were influenced by critic reviews. 14.2% of attendees chose a show because of a Tony award or nomination (really wish this could be broken down more). Tied were "read articles about the show" and "saw show before" at 11.8% each; I didn't expect the latter. After that, everything from internet ads to liking the author/composer/performer or seeing a Tony Awards performance or liking "the movie" (I assume that means an adaptation) took less notable percentages of influence over musical choice.

 

Play attendee data were quite different, and the same probably holds true now. Critic reviews influenced 32.6% attendees, then personal recommendation at 31.7%. To see a particular performer took 29%. Liking the author tied with reading articles about a show, at 21%. Discount coupons influenced 9.7%, and Tony awards or nominations (6.4%) were less influential than print ads (8.5%). Newspapers in general were more important sources of critic reviews, but a breakout graph for playgoers showed that the 2005-2006 season had 27.8% newspaper critic review influence, an amazing 45.5% in 2006-07, and decreasing to 36.6% 2007-2008 and 27.5% in 2008-2009. I wonder what happened in the 2006-2007 play season, and what the data will look like in 2014-15.

 

The New York Times wasn't/isn't very influential overall; in 2008-09, only 6% of play attendees and 2% of musical attendees cited NYT print ads. I'd love to see the current data, but I rather doubt it's risen significantly. Seems like a waste; are producers spending on those ads out of tradition, I wonder?

 

There's a lot more, of course, but here's the methodology; I was most curious about this.

From June 2008 through June 2009, the League’s Research Department administered surveys at 24 different productions at 72 individual performance times. Shows were selected on a quarterly basis to represent what Broadway was offering that season (i.e., a proportionate number of musicals versus straight plays; revivals versus original works; and new productions versus long-running shows).
 Questionnaires were distributed at multiple performances per show to account for variances in the weekday, weekend, evening, and matinee audiences. Completed questionnaires were tabulated and weighted based upon the actual paid attendance for each show. In total, 12,143 questionnaires were distributed and 6,365 were returned, representing a 52% rate of return. Totals in some charts may not add up exactly to 100%, due to rounding.

 

That's not a bad rate of return and a pretty decent sample number; I assume the BL show sampling was a good cross section. Political polls typically number in the 1000-2000 sample size range. I have correlation data between average ticket price and income I'm going to post as well.


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Pootie2
#15Demographics of the Broadway Audience 2008-2009 (in comparison to 2013-2014
Posted: 2/5/16 at 2:08pm

##### 2014-2015 #####

 

Executive summary:

 

1. In the 2014–2015 season, there were a record breaking 13.1 million admissions to Broadway shows. Approximately 2/3 were tourists: 49% from the United States (but outside New York City and its suburbs) and 18% from other countries.

 

2. 68% of the audiences were female.

 

3. The average age of the Broadway theatregoer was 44 years.

 

4. Almost 80% of all tickets were purchased by Caucasian theatregoers.

 

5. Of theatregoers over 25 years old, 78% had completed college and 39% had earned a graduate degree.

 

6. The average Broadway theatregoer reported attending 4 shows in the previous 12 months. The group of devoted fans who attended 15 or more performances comprised less than 5.6% of the audience, but accounted for 32% of all tickets (4.2 million admissions).

 

7. Playgoers tended to be more frequent theatregoers than musical attendees. The typical straight-play attendee saw eight shows in the past year; the musical attendee, four.

 

8. For musical attendees, personal recommendation was the most influential factor in show selection. Playgoers cited a specific performer as the greatest lure. (This really hasn't changed for some time, I guess.)

 

9. The most popular sources for theatre information were Broadway.com, Ticketmaster.com, and the New York Times.

 

10. Over 1/2 of the respondents said they purchased their tickets online.

 

11. The average reported date of ticket purchase for a Broadway show was 36 days before the performance.

 

Under the detailed statistics-at-a-glance section, the average ticket price for last season was $104.18.

 

 

This forum really doesn't like its own formatting options...


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Updated On: 2/5/16 at 02:08 PM

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LizzieCurry
#16Demographics of the Broadway Audience 2008-2009 (in comparison to 2013-2014
Posted: 2/5/16 at 2:51pm

Order the report here: 
https://www.broadwayleague.com/index.php?url_identifier=the-demographics-of-the-broadway-audience


"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt

Pootie2
#17Demographics of the Broadway Audience 2008-2009 (in comparison to 2013-2014
Posted: 2/5/16 at 2:55pm

They did NOT include the income question for the 2014-2015 surveys, which is stupid and one of the most critical bits of information for Broadway demographics vis-a-vis ticket pricing and everything.


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JBroadway
#18Demographics of the Broadway Audience 2008-2009 (in comparison to 2013-2014
Posted: 2/5/16 at 3:22pm

So for the last 2 years, 80% of audiences have been white, which is obviously a sad but not surprising figure. However, I'm curious if the stats from this current season will see a rise in audiences of color, given the very racially diverse season we have here. 

 

Thanks for making and bumping this thread, Pootie! I hope we continue to use it to discuss the stats, as I am not usually aware of them. I probably won't remember to look out for this season's stats down the road. 

Pootie2
#19Demographics of the Broadway Audience 2008-2009 (in comparison to 2013-2014
Posted: 2/5/16 at 8:06pm

JBroadway said: "So for the last 2 years, 80% of audiences have been white, which is obviously a sad but not surprising figure. However, I'm curious if the stats from this current season will see a rise in audiences of color, given the very racially diverse season we have here. 

 

Thanks for making and bumping this thread, Pootie! I hope we continue to use it to discuss the stats, as I am not usually aware of them. I probably won't remember to look out for this season's stats down the road. "

 

I expect Allegiance this season will have translated to a noticeable bump in Asian attendance, hopefully. Color Purple, and so on. Since 1998, the percentage of Caucasian attendees ranged from 74% (2008-2009) to 83% (2010-2011), but the average has hovered around high-70s/80 for a long while now. Though they decided not to survey income last season for whatever reason, given the slight average ticket price increase, I expect average income to still have been above $200k.

 

As a point of interest: New Yorkers paid a reported average of $94.60 while US tourists paid an average $116.60, more than international tourists at $105.20.


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_IrisTInkerbell
#20Demographics of the Broadway Audience 2008-2009 (in comparison to 2013-2014
Posted: 2/6/16 at 12:57am

The paid price for NY vs tourists is interesting but makes sense.

Tourists are more likely to book their shows long in advance and not wait around for discounts or TKTS. They are only here for a limited amount of them, they want to lock the show(s)s they want to see in. International tourists are probably more likely to buy at the box office because they might find it harder to research shows, or just come here wanting "to see a Broadway show", and then only decide what to see when they are here (asking for Lion King and Wicked at the TKTS booth)

New Yorkers would be the most versed on discounts, rushes ect. and can also afford to wait for a good discount to come around because they are here anyway.

 

Fun stuff!

 

Also interesting how most of the stats didn't change at all from 13/14 to 14/15, and probably going back much further.

 

I would love to see a statistic of how the percentages of tourists/locals vary from show to show!

Pootie2
#21Demographics of the Broadway Audience
Posted: 2/6/16 at 10:25am

_IrisTInkerbell said: "The paid price for NY vs tourists is interesting but makes sense.

 

Tourists are more likely to book their shows long in advance and not wait around for discounts or TKTS. They are only here for a limited amount of them, they want to lock the show(s)s they want to see in. International tourists are probably more likely to buy at the box office because they might find it harder to research shows, or just come here wanting "to see a Broadway show", and then only decide what to see when they are here (asking for Lion King and Wicked at the TKTS booth)

 

New Yorkers would be the most versed on discounts, rushes ect. and can also afford to wait for a good discount to come around because they are here anyway.

 

Fun stuff!

 

Also interesting how most of the stats didn't change at all from 13/14 to 14/15, and probably going back much further.

 

I would love to see a statistic of how the percentages of tourists/locals vary from show to show!"

 

I wondered why the international price paid average was higher than domestic tourists, but would international tourists really know about the TKTS booth? The same-day box office purchase makes sense, especially if premium seats often switch to regular pricing. Unfortunately, there's no show breakdown since that would probably be up to the house or show and not BL, but I'll bet tourists gravitate to something tried-and-true like a Disney feature or something else familiar, perhaps with a big star. Interestingly, you were about twice as likely to run into international tourists at a weekday evening show compared to weekend matinee or evening show.

 

Not much seems to have changed within the past two seasons, but there are definitely long-term trends going back to the 1990s. Domestic tourists have increased rather regularly in absolute numbers, for example, from 27m in 1998 to over 44m by 2014. Ticket prices have definitely gone up as well as average income. Male attendance proportion has slowly been dropping off as well.

 

Now, I'm not familiar with a lot of Broadway or local New York history, but something happened around the 1990-1991 season according to the absolute data where the overall attendance saw a precipitous drop from the 1980s before picking back up years later (before 2000). Anyone know why?

 

Another tidbit: Twice as many New Yorkers (by percentage) saw plays compared to tourists in the 2014-2015 season.

 

I wonder how Hamilton will skew the results for this season; or maybe it won't by much, merely offsetting flops.


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_IrisTInkerbell
#22Demographics of the Broadway Audience
Posted: 2/6/16 at 10:36am

Having been an international tourist several times before I moved here, yes, they know about TKTS. Every travel guide mentions it, so if you read one, you would know. I had also been told by friends before my first trip, and it was indeed how I bought my tickets on this first trip.

The evening show for tourists make complete sense! You want to spend the daytime sightseeing, and see a show when it'a dark out anyway. And that's also where TKTS gets inconvenient for tourists, that they only sell evening tix starting at 2pm...

Pootie2
#23Demographics of the Broadway Audience
Posted: 2/6/16 at 10:47am

Interesting, thanks for the insight!


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