In the continuing saga of Clear Channel vs. the Boston nonprofit arts, it looks like Clear Channel took round one with a vengeance. As faithful readers will recall, the Boston Ballet’s traditional cash-cow Nutcracker was bumped this season from the Wang Center for the Performing Arts, to make way for Clear Channel’s touring ”Radio City Christmas Spectacular” featuring the Rockettes (see my original posts here and here).
The big box-office lure of the Rockettes show was made worse by the concurrent running of ”The Lion King,” another Clear Channel production which will likely gross $30 million by the end of its six-month Boston run.
The damage to nonprofit revenues? This story in the Boston Globe paints a bleak picture:
The impact of the Rockettes and ”The Lion King” has been felt throughout the city. The Boston Symphony Orchestra, the corporate entity that oversees the Pops, canceled three Holiday Pops concerts because of slow ticket sales. Twelve of 29 Holiday Pops concerts sold out, but ticket sales were down from 2003’s total of 79,000 to 63,000.Revels, which held 18 Christmas Revels concerts in Sanders Theatre in Cambridge, saw its holiday ticket sales drop from 19,761 in 2003 to 17,900.
Handel and Haydn expected to earn $270,000 for its four performances of ”Messiah.” The organization ended up earning $244,000.
Boston Ballet refused to release any figures on ticket sales or money earned for its just finished run on its smaller, restaged ”Nutcracker,” but in a statement said that box office revenue was ”below expectations.”
It’s a difficult battle for the local nonprofits, since they lack the marketing money, the market research, and international brand recognition…and they’re up against a vertically integrated competitor (Clear Channel owns not just the touring shows, but also major local radio stations, billboards, and other goodies).
The locals might find inspiration from other small businesses faced with multi-national competitors (like local retailers vs. Wal-Mart). Their best response has been to amplify the local, responsive, friendly, and boutique customer experience that the box-box retailer cannot provide (yet). According to one short piece on the subject:
The smart small retailers know they can’t beat Wal-Mart at Wal-Mart’s game. So they change the game. Increasingly small retailers are becoming niche-focused. They strive to create a memorable, pleasurable experience for the customer. They offer levels of personalized service that the Wal-Marts simply can’t match.
That said, ”The Lion King” is a fairly stellar experience — and not just in scale and glitz. So the Wal-Mart comparison may be wishful thinking, too.
It will be interesting to watch for round two next December.
