Sales Data Reports - UK Theatre

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Sales Data Reports

Analysis of 2018's Sales Data Figures

UK Theatre and Society of London Theatre (SOLT) have jointly released data for ticket sales across our member venues in 2018.

This is the first time the data has been jointly released for the West End and rest of the UK, revealing the resilience of the UK’s theatre industry.

The figures reveal a combined audience of over 34m and ticket revenue of nearly £1.28bn, from a total of 62,945 performances over the course of the year.

UK Theatre's 2018 Figures

The following report contains overall figures and key findings from UK Theatre's 2018 sales data collection, revealing insights into the health of regional theatre in the UK. The data was collated and analysed by TRG Arts.

2018 SALES DATA REPORT

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In June 2018, UK Theatre released the 2017 sales figures for over 200 of its member venues across the country. TRG Arts – who collated the results – has since analysed the data further.

Our subsequent 2017 Sales Data Report, published on 16 August 2018, looks at what conclusions can be drawn about the state of regional theatre in the UK. Click on the button below to down load the report.

2017 Sales Data Report

UK Theatre's Sales Data Report for 2013-16 is a comprehensive analysis of sales data by genre and venue type based on weekly data supplied by UK Theatre member venues, with analysis and commentary from TRG Arts.

The report emphasises the resilience of the theatre and performing arts sector, which is showing growth and resilience despite the challenging financial climate. Beyond the impressive annual figures, it tells a comprehensive story of how the industry has evolved in the last four years.

- INTRODUCTION & EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

- FAQs

Key findings include

Growth across all key indicators: more productions, more performances, more tickets sold, greater income, fuller houses and higher prices paid
Cumulative box office income grew by 18%
Average ticket price paid has increased 9.7%
A 42% increase in box office income for family theatre
An increase of over £32 million in the annual income from musicals. In 2016 39p in every £1 taken was for a musical
A 47% increase in sales revenue from concerts. In 2016 concerts overtook pantomime as the third highest performing genre across UK Theatre venues
Touring accounted for 10% of recorded productions and generated 60% of overall income in 2016
Following growth in both 2014 and 2015 there was a decrease in income for plays in 2016

The report captures around 90% of activity at UK Theatre venues who are not members or affiliate members of the Society of London Theatre (SOLT). SOLT’s annual box office figures can be found here.

Fiona Allan, President of UK Theatre said

“Our sector has many reasons to be cheerful. This report is a vote of confidence for the industry in challenging times. We’re continuing to attract audiences, and as an industry we’re showing remarkable resilience during a time of unprecedented financial pressure. These figures demonstrate the vital importance of the arts to the national economy, and show that theatre remains a popular and important part of our cultural life in the UK.”

Detailed Reports by Genre Type (click to download)

- Comedy

- Concert Classical
- Concert Other
- Concert Rock Pop
- Dance Ballet
- Dance Contemporary
- Dance Other
- Family Theatre
- Musical Adult
- Musical Family
- Opera
- Other
- Pantomime
- Plays
- Touring
- Variety

Detailed Reports by Venue Type (click to download)

A: Main auditoria of larger producing theatres
B: Principally presenting theatres with a capacity of over 1,000
C: Concert Halls
D: Auditoria of principally presenting theatres with a capacity between 500-1,000
E: Main auditoria of principally producing theatres with capacity over 160
F: Auditoria of principally presenting theatres with a capacity between 200 and 500
G: Smaller space, programmed frequently
H: Smaller space, programmed infrequently

UK Theatre member? We held a FREE WEBINAR on Tuesday 12 December 2017 to take members through the key findings of the report in more detail and answer any questions they had. If you are a member, log in and watch the webinar here.

Certain UK Theatre Memberships allows access to the Box Office Sales Data Reports. These are produced weekly using information from 6,600 performances in member venues.

Collecting this data from participating venues allows us to provide Members with what we hope is useful information and gives us an insightful picture of theatre trends around the UK. This is a vital tool for us to use on our Members’ behalf for further advocacy and lobbying on an regional and national level.

We receive a fantastic number of returns each week and the process is straightforward. Every Monday we send an email to the person each organisation nominates to provide their sales figures. This email contains a link to a simple unique form for you to fill in some basic information for every show (including non-theatre shows) you have presented in the last week. It’s a quick and easy online process and only takes a few minutes to complete. We code all shows internally, using details from each theatre’s website so we have a full picture of the shows that are out across the UK.

We collect all data on Mondays, analyse the data on Tuesdays and then send a weekly report by email each Wednesday.

Weekly email reports compare your ticket yield and capacity achieved to the national average
Quarterly reports compare your data against an anonymised benchmark based on 7 to 10 venues of your choice.

The summary of our 2016 box office sales figures can be downloaded here.

In 2013 the British Theatre Consortium and UK Theatre/Society of London Theatre produced a report, British Theatre Repertoire 2013, based on the programmes of 273 auditoria, the most extensive and detailed dataset ever compiled on British theatre’s repertoire. The most striking finding was that, for the first time since records began, new work had overtaken revivals in the British Theatre repertoire.

In the 2014 report, the main headlines were:

British theatre continues to defy austerity
London theatre pulls further away from the rest of the UK in a theatre landscape dominated by long-running musicals
New work remains ahead of revivals, with a small decline in new writing and a marked increase in devising
Classical revivals are dominated by Shakespeare and women’s revivals by Agatha Christie
More than half of the National Theatre and RSC new plays are by women

Download the full British Theatre Repertoire Report here.

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WC2E 9ET

enquiries@soltukt.co.uk

+44 (0)20 7557 6700

"UK Theatre" is the operating name of UK Theatre Association, a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales, whose registered office is at 32 Rose Street, London, WC2E 9ET, Company No 323204.