Broadway League Releases Demos on Broadway Tour Audiences

The Broadway League has released its eighth edition of the demographics report, The Audience for Touring Broadway 2011 - 2012. Updated on a biennial basis, it tracks profiles of audiences throughout the country, analyzes changes over time, and denotes the unique characteristics and theatergoing habits that distinguish "road" audiences from Broadway theatergoers in New York.

There were nearly 13 million admissions to Touring Broadway shows across the country during the 2011 - 2012 season. Touring Broadway is essential to theatre in this country in terms of visibility, audience development, and economic impact to metropolitan areas across America.

"With a wide array of touring shows, theater-goers have great options when determining what shows to see," said Charlotte St. Martin, Executive Director of The Broadway League. She continued, "This report illustrates demographics and theatre-going habits in a detailed way. Our mission is to help provide resources to our members across the country to assist them in enhancing ticket sales."

Many of the key characteristics are similar to past reports, but include the following new highlights from the analysis:

Twenty-one percent of respondents said that Tony Awards or nominations were a reason they attended the show, compared to 18% in the 2009 - 2010 season and 8% in the 2005 - 2006 season.

Forty-seven percent of touring Broadway theatregoers used the Internet to purchase their tickets, the highest percentage yet.

Thirty-four percent of respondents said they made a visit to New York City in the past year. Of those, 82% attended a Broadway show while in town.

Facebook was the most widely used social networking site.

Three quarters of respondents said they would prefer to receive theatre information electronically, rather than via postal mail.

The Audience for Touring Broadway is published biennially by The Broadway League, the clearinghouse for information on the business, demographics and economic impact of Broadway theatre throughout North America. The League compiles various statistics and publishes extensive reports on a number of topics. Printed versions of the reports are available for purchase online at:www.BroadwayLeague.com under Research and Information.

Surveys were administered electronically. Presenters across the country sent invitations via e-mail to their customer mailing lists, asking theatergoers to respond online. The method for data collection for this report is different from previous reports in this series in that information was collected via email, rather than in-theatre surveys. In total, 18,389 theatregoers responded.

The Broadway League, founded in 1930, is the national trade association for the Broadway industry. The League's 700-plus members include theatre owners and operators, producers, presenters, and general managers who present in nearly 200 markets in North America, as well as suppliers of goods and services to the theatre industry. Each year, League members bring Broadway to nearly 30 million people in New York and on tour across the U.S. and Canada. For more information, visit www.BroadwayLeague.com, or follow The Broadway League on Twitter @TheBwayLeague or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BroadwayLeague. Download the free Internet Broadway Database, IBDB app, for iPhone, iPad, and iTouch on iTunes.

Broadway theatres are filled with an exciting array of new and classic musicals and plays, providing the perfect experience for every audience. Great seats are available at every price point and are easy to buy online, by phone, or in person at theatre box offices. It's always the perfect time to see a show. Broadway performs every day of the week at multiple curtain times to accommodate every schedule.