Audiences prefer live events to digital
January 2024
Cultural Participation MonitorWave 9 | Summer 2023
This research is from The Audience Agency's nationwide longitudinal (ongoing) panel survey of changing views about participating in creative and cultural activities through the recent and ongoing crises, and beyond, the Cultural Participation Monitor.
Themes
This report uses data from wave 9 of the Cultural Participation Monitor (CPM) to understand the extent audiences engage with live versus digital events, finding that:
- All audiences prefer live events, followed by at home viewing and then watching at a cinema screening.
- Lower engaged segments are more open to viewing at home and at the cinema compared to higher engaged segments.
- Younger people are more open to all viewing platforms and artforms compared to audiences aged 45 and over.
People prefer to see live events in the first instance
Unsurprisingly, for all art forms measured, a higher proportion were interested in seeing them live compared to at a cinema screening or at home. This was also true for all demographic groups looked at, as well as all Audience Spectrum segments. Metroculturals have the highest overall level of interest in seeing artforms live compared to Up Our Street and Supported Communities that have the lowest level of interest in live shows comparatively. Supported Communities have the highest level of interest in seeing artforms at home compared to all other segments.
The ratio to which each artform appealed was at a similar distribution across all Audience Spectrum groups, with Musicals (59%), Rock/Pop (63%) and New Plays (50%) the most popular and Dance (32%), Ballet (32%) and Opera (31%) the least popular.
People prefer to see artforms at home (online/on TV) rather than at cinema screenings
Following audiences’ preferences to see live events, people preferred to view these same artforms at home (online/on TV) before seeing them at a cinema screening. Experience Seekers found home (45%) or cinema screenings (44%) more appealing compared to the other highly engaged segments Metroculturals (41%, 34%) and Commuterland Culturebuffs (35%, 25%). Whilst lower engaged segments had a higher level of interest in seeing events at home or at the cinema compared to other Audience Spectrum segments, particularly for at home viewing for Supported Communities (71%), Kaleidoscope Creativity (59%) and Frontline Families (62%).
Younger Audiences are more open to viewing artforms via digital platforms
How much each artform appealed was also largely consistent by age group (even though this doesn’t match the profile of attenders), with live events appealing more, followed by at home and at a cinema screening.
All modes of artforms appeal to those under the age of 45 more compared to those 45 and over. There is, however, a larger difference between viewing arts/cultural events via a cinema screening, with younger audiences more open to viewing events via this platform compared to older audiences. The gap between the two age categories was the largest for cinema screenings standing between 9%-15% difference across all art forms, with New Plays at the higher end and Ballet at the lower.
Although cinema screenings appeal to a significant number, this data suggests that audiences would prefer to watch at home if they are not going to be seeing it live. This perhaps relates to the COL crisis, and a desire by some to be immersed at a live event.
Overall, all groups prefer live events, however, younger audiences are more open to watching events via a variety of viewing platforms compared to older audiences, whilst lower engaged segments are also more open to watching online or at a cinema screening. Age differences are reflecting artform preferences, with the ratio in changes between viewing platforms being relatively the same across ages.
Related videos
Cultural Participation Monitor | Latest Findings on Audience Attitude and Behaviours | Wave 9
Watch nowTEA Break: Bad behaviour? - What types of behaviour people prefer when attending culture
Watch nowTEA Break: From Interest into Action
Watch nowTEA Break | More Insights on Changing Audiences
Watch nowTEA Break | Key Changing Audiences for Art Forms
Watch nowOther findings from Wave 9 | Summer 2023
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Audiences prefer live events, but how much varies by artform
Data from the CPM suggests that the more popular an artform is the more open audiences are to viewing it in different formats other than live. This report presents insights into how the popularity of an artform and the initial audience interest can determine how engaging people find non-live events for a particular artform.
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Audience preferences on venues' values
Social and environmental issues are at the forefront of much news about the cultural sector recently: cancellation of fossil fuel sponsorships; repatriation of museum artefacts and decolonialisation of collections and displays; demonstrations of support for Black Lives Matter; the emphasis on environmental action in Let’s Create and National Portfolio funding, to name but a few topics. But where is the voice of the audience in these discussions?
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Younger audiences prefer more relaxed behavioural codes
Younger people are generally more tolerant of all divisive behaviours at live events, though some activities are universally off-putting (smoking/vaping, talking on the phone), while being 'allowed' to do others (eating, drinking, taking photos) actually makes people of all ages keener to attend.
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Cost-of-Living is hitting lowest engaged groups hardest
Cost-of-living fears still soar above receding Covid concerns as the driving factor behind declining attendance, though less so for settled suburban groups - meanwhile the already least engaged audiences continue to be most affected, compounding the existing inequality gap in cultural consumption.
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Nothing beats the live experience
While attending 'live' cultural events in person is everyone's strong preference, when it comes to alternative modes of engagement, watching from home, either streaming online or on TV, appeals more to all groups than doing so at the cinema, though both options are more popular among younger audiences.
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Social issues and climate concerns matter to audiences
People (especially younger ones and better off families) say that they care whether venues share their own social and environmental values - particularly when it comes to the Climate Crisis - and that they are more likely to attend if organisations take an active stance on these issues.
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The cost-of-living crisis and audiences’ attendance
The cost-of-living crisis continues to expand and impact individuals in the UK. The Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) rose by 6.3% in the 12 months up to September 2023 according to the Office for National Statistics. It is affecting many individuals’ daily lives and is having an impact on engagement at cultural and arts events and on organisations’ income, at an already difficult time.
