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The Demographics of the Broadway Audience 2011-2012

Who Goes to Broadway?
The Demographics of the Broadway Audience
2011-2012 Season

Introduction

The Demographics of the Broadway Audience 2011-2012 is a profile of the audience at Broadway shows from June 2011 through June 2012. It is the fifteenth annual report in our series, analyzing the composition of the audience today in comparison to past years and attempting to note trends for the future.

The report includes information regarding the demographics, ticket purchasing habits, and consumer preferences of the Broadway theatergoer. This year, we also included theatregoers’ place of residence by city and county.

From the Executive Summary

• In the 2011–2012 season, tourists purchased approximately 63.4% of all Broadway tickets.
• The average Broadway-going tourist stayed 4.4 days in New York City.
• Sixty-seven percent of the audiences were female.
• The average age of the Broadway theatregoer was 43.5 years.
• Seventy-eight percent of all tickets were purchased by Caucasian theatregoers. 
• Broadway theatregoers were quite affluent compared to the general United States population, reporting an average annual household income of $193,800.
• Broadway theatregoers were a very well-educated group.  Of theatregoers over 25 years old, 75% had completed college and 38% had earned a graduate degree.
• The use of the Internet to purchase tickets has been steadily increasing.  In this season, 47% percent of respondents said they bought their tickets online.
• Thirty-four percent of respondents reported having purchased their tickets more than one month prior to the show.
• 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 29% of all tickets (3.6 million admissions).
• The typical straight play attendee saw six shows in the past year; the musical attendee, five.
• Thirty percent of Broadway theatregoers reported having watched the Tony Awards® on television.

Who Goes to Broadway? 2011-2012
47 pages, illustrated with color with charts, graphs, and photos. Published November, 2012
The Broadway League

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