Ken Davenport, producer of Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, posted on his blog a summary of the Annual Broadway League’s report about the demographics of the Broadway Audience 2010-2011.  Thank you, Ken.  Here it is:

Executive Summary:

  •  In the 2010-2011 season, approximately 62% of all Broadway tickets were purchased by tourists.
  • 65% of the the audiences were female.
  • The average age of the Broadway theatergoer was 44 years.
  • 83% of all tickets were purchased by Caucasian theatergoers.
  • Broadway theatergoers were also quite affluent compared to the general United States population, reporting an average annual household income of $244,100.
  • Broadway theatergoers were a very well-educated group.  Of theatergoers over 25 years old, 78% had complete college and 39% had earned a graduate degree.
  • The average Broadway theatergoer reported attending 5 shows in the previous 12 months.  The group of devoted fans who attended 15 or more performances comprised only 6% of the audience but accounted for 33% of all tickets (4.1 mission admissions).
  • Playgoers tended to be more frequent theatergoers than musical attendees.  The typical straight play attendee saw eight shows in the past year; the musical attendee, five.
  • The use of the Internet to purchase tickets has been steadily increasing.  In this season, 44% of respondents said they bought their tickets online.
  • 35% of respondents reported having purchased their tickets more than one month prior to the show.
  • The most popular sources for theatre information were Broadway.com, The New York Times and word-of-mouth.
  • Word-of-mouth was by far the most influential factor in show selection.
  • In general, advertisements were not reported to have been influential in making the purchasing decision.
  • 74% of the Broadway audience said that some kind of incentive (discounts, freebies, add-ons) would encourage them to attend shows more often.
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