In terms of our audience, we have had two groups in mind since we first started developing the concept of COMPACT BROADWAY — people who go to theatre and people who listen to public radio. Although these two segments may seem different, their core audiences share a number of similarities in age, income and education. But before we get to those comparisons, you may be wondering who we are trying to reach.

Well, since COMPACT BROADWAY is not on the air yet, there are no ratings to show who are listeners will be, but there are a number of studies that support our belief that there is an audience for theatre-related programming on public radio. As seen in the charts below, these reports also indicate that the target listener demographic for COMPACT BROADWAY is a highly desirable one: Adults who are between the ages of 35 and 64, more than half of which have household incomes of more than $75,000, while almost two out of every three have graduated college or have advanced education.

First, in terms of audience size, the National Endowment for the Arts states that theatre continues to be the most attended discipline of the performing arts with record audience numbers. For the twelve months ending August, 2002, one in six American adults (35 million people) attended at least one musical, while one out of every eight (25 million adults) went to a play (a). By comparison, the average weekly audience for National Public Radio is 26 million listeners or one in eight adults (b). Of those listeners, more than one in four attend live theatre (d).

From this potential audience, our goal is to build a core listener base for COMPACT BROADWAY from the two highest percentages of adult theatergoers (ages 35-49 and 50-64) for Touring Broadway as indicated by The League of American Theatres and Producers (c). As the following Age chart (Figure 1) shows, this target audience is also in alignment with the core demographics of public radio as reported by Mediamark Research (d).

» The combination of ages 35-49 and 50-64 equals 64% of the Touring Broadway audience (c).

» These same age groups account for 65% of total National Public Radio listeners (d).

In addition to overlapping age segments, audience comparisons show that Touring Broadway and National Public Radio audiences share similar characteristics in terms of income and education.

Theatregoers and public radio listeners consistently have higher incomes than the typical American family as this Annual Household Income chart (Figure 2) demonstrates.

» In 2003, the median annual household income in the U.S. was $43,500 (e).

» 25% of U.S. households earned over $75,000 in annual income, with 14% above $100,000 (e).

» More than doubling the national statistics, 54% of Touring Broadway audiences report an annual household income beyond $75,000, while 36% state income of more than $100,000 (c).

» The National Public Radio listener base is nearly identical to Touring Broadway with 52% of its audience earning greater than $75,000 and 35% exceeding $100,000 (d).

The Education chart (Figure 3) below indicates that theatre and public radio participants are also similar in that they are both extremely well educated when compared to the general population.

» Of the U.S. adult population over the age of 25, only 27% have graduated college or obtained advanced education (e).

» For National Public Radio listeners, the statistic is two and a half times greater at 65% (d).

» This percentage increases slightly more to 69% for those attending Touring Broadway (c).

Finally, numbers are just numbers without knowing their validity, so here is a guide to where our information comes from:

a National Endowment for the Arts: 2002 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts

b National Public Radio: NPR.org

c The League of American Theatres and Producers: The Audience for Touring Broadway 2003-2004

d National Public Radio Station Audiences: MRI Doublebase 2004 – News/Talk/Information

e U.S. Bureau of the Census: Statistical Abstract of the United States 2003

NOTE: Percentages have been rounded.