UK Theatre Venue Ticket Sales Benchmarking Analysis
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UK Theatre venue ticket sales benchmarking analysis Published November 2015 Index Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 3 Venues by type .......................................................................................................................................... 5 All Genres ................................................................................................................................................ 11 Summary tables ....................................................................................................................................... 21 Details by venue type A: Main auditoria of larger producing theatres ............................................................................ 26 B: Principally presenting theatres with a capacity of over 1,000 ................................................ 32 C: Concert Halls ........................................................................................................................... 38 D: Auditoria of principally presenting theatres with a capacity between 500 and 1,000 ............ 44 E: Main auditoria of principally producing theatres with capacity over 160 ................................ 50 F: Auditoria of principally presenting theatres with a capacity between 200 and 500................ 56 G: Smaller space, programmed frequently ................................................................................. 62 H: Smaller space, programmed infrequently ............................................................................... 68 Details by genre Comedy ........................................................................................................................................ 74 Classical Concert ......................................................................................................................... 79 Concert Rock Pop ........................................................................................................................ 84 Concert Other .............................................................................................................................. 89 Dance Ballet ................................................................................................................................. 94 Dance Contemporary ................................................................................................................... 99 Dance Other ............................................................................................................................... 104 Family Theatre ........................................................................................................................... 109 Local Event ................................................................................................................................ 114 Musical Adult .............................................................................................................................. 119 Musical Family ........................................................................................................................... 124 Opera ......................................................................................................................................... 129 Other .......................................................................................................................................... 134 Pantomime ................................................................................................................................. 139 Plays........................................................................................................................................... 144 Variety ........................................................................................................................................ 149 2 Introduction This report presents the first ever comprehensive analysis of sales data by genre and venue type for UK Theatre (formerly TMA) venues. For over two decades data was collected from some TMA venues but this was neither a representative nor a comprehensive sample. It should be noted that the data presented in this report still does not represent 100% of tickets sales in all UK Theatre venues. A few venues do not take part in the scheme and some venues do not complete returns every week. We estimate that in 2014 we captured around 90% of activity at UK Theatre who are not members or affiliate members of the Society of London Theatre (SOLT). Most organisations who are members of both only provide returns to SOLT. A very small number supply both. Only 1% of tickets sold in the UK Theatre sample in 2014 also appear in SOLT’s statistics for the year. UKTheatrevenuesarenotrepresentativeofalltheatresandconcerthallsintheUK.Therequirement thatourMembersabidebyagreementsandminimumpayratesnegotiated with four unions means that many smaller or less well-resourced organisations would find membership unaffordable. This sample therefore includes a higher proportion of the better resourced theatres in the UK. This report compares figures for 2013 and 2014. It should be noted that the sample is not constant. Membership of UK Theatre changes (and is growing) and UK Theatre has also had success in encouraging more of it members to provide more sales information more frequently. Onemajorticketingsoftwarecompany’ssystemdoesnotreportonwhattheincomewouldhavebeen if all seats were sold at the full price. For venues that use this system (usually large venues) we estimate the potential cash capacity based on the percentage of the seats that were sold (i.e. if we know 57% of seats were sold, we assume that 57% of potential income was achieved). We believe this could be overestimating the performance and having an impact on the averages for some of the larger venue types (particularly principally presenting theatres with a seating capacity of over 1,000 and auditoria of principally presenting theatres with a seating capacity of between 500 and 1,000). Weareimmenselygrateful to the staff at over 200 venues who take the time every week to submit their sales data to UK Theatre. Each show is genre coded not by the venue but by a member of the UK Theatre team, Clare Ollerhead. This ensures that we are accurately counting the number of shows and coding them in the same way. Coding shows remains a partially subjective process, but by doing it centrally we know we are taking a consistent approach. The reporting and analysis of the data in thisdocumentwasconductedbyUKTheatre’sExecutiveDirectorDavidBrownleeinAugust2015. The headlines: The average advertised ticket price increased by 5.1% in 2014, well above inflation but less than the growth in the amount actually paid (up 5.5%). This increase in average price paid must be viewed in the context of unprecedented levels of cuts to both national and local funding to theatres. 2014 was the year of the big family musical, which took almost £1 in every £4 taken at the Box Office with shows including The Lion King, Wicked and Shrek doing excellent business on long tours. Thesteepestdeclinewasfor‘adult’ musicals (shows includingDirtyDancing,Ghost,and PriscillaQueenOfTheDeserthadenjoyedlong,successfultoursin2013),butthiswasmore than made up for by the growth in audiences and income for family musicals. Overall the market share for musicals increased. 3 Overall ticket sales for plays fell by 278,000 in 2014 and on average auditoria were only just half full. The largest presenting houses (seating capacity over 1,000) continued to sell just over half of all tickets in 2014. Their share of income rose to 62% in 2014. The main auditoria of larger producing theatres saw big increases in audiences and income, but other smaller producing theatres (seating capacity over 160) saw a decline in audiences as did concert halls. 4 Venues by type A Main auditoria of larger producing theatres Birmingham Repertory Theatre Main House Birmingham Rep Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic Chichester Festival Theatre Festival Theatre Chichester Clwyd Theatr Cymru Anthony Hopkins Theatre Leicester Theatre Trust Auditorium Leicester Liverpool & Merseyside Theatres Trust Ltd Playhouse Liverpool & Merseyside Theatres Trust Ltd Everyman Lyric Hammersmith Main House Lyric Hammersmith Nottingham Playhouse Nottingham Playhouse Rose Theatre, Kingston Main Auditorium Kingston Royal Exchange Theatre Main Theatre Royal Exchange Royal Lyceum Theatre Company Royal Lyceum Theatre Company Royal Shakespeare Company Royal Shakespeare Theatre Stage Sheffield Theatres Trust Ltd Crucible West Yorkshire Playhouse Quarry Theatre B Auditoria of principally presenting theatres with a capacity of over 1,000 ATG Aylesbury Waterside Theatre ATG Birmingham New Alexandra ATG Bristol Hippodrome ATG Edinburgh Playhouse ATG Glasgow King's Theatre ATG Glasgow Theatre Royal ATG Liverpool Empire ATG Manchester Opera House ATG Manchester Palace Theatre ATG Milton Keynes Theatre ATG Oxford New Theatre ATG Stoke Regent Theatre ATG Sunderland Empire ATG Princess Theatre Torquay ATG New Wimbledon Theatre ATG New Victoria Theatre Woking Birmingham Hippodrome Main House Birmingham Hippodrome Bradford Theatres Main House (Alhambra) Festival City Theatres Trust Festival Theatre Edinburgh Festival City Theatres Trust King's Theatre