Live shows a hit as families turn patrons

Lan Lulu and her 3-year-old daughter Rongrong were overwhelmed at the live show Disney On Ice at the Capital Stadium in November in Beijing. When the characters of Princess Elsa and Anna of Frozen were skating on the ice, the mother and daughter both stood up and sang Let It Go along with the audience.

"The stadium was full of joyful families," recalled Lan, 36. "The performance was fantastic, something you could only see at a live show."

The touring ice show, produced by Feld Entertainment under an agreement with The Walt Disney Company, continues to top the monthly China Live Show Index, which is jointly released by Xishiqu, a ticketing platform that has nearly 20 million registered members in 59 cities, and entertainment consultancy Entgroup.

The index mirrors the rise of children- and family-related live performances as a key segment of the live shows sector, which is now a prominent part of China's overall entertainment industry that is dominated by movies and sports.

"Young audiences and family-type viewers have become the main consumers of live shows. The market is growing more mature. This is helping the transition of the show business (from a film-powered industry to a more broad-based, multi-segment market)," said Xishiqu in a statement. It has sold more than 2 million tickets for live entertainment across China since its launch in 2012.

The country's second child policy is expected to sharply expand the child audience group, making children-friendly or family-oriented plays and shows a popular genre. It is estimated that the market for live shows targeted at children will likely grow at 15 percent annually to 720 million yuan ($112.6 million) in the next five years.

Wang Xian, an analyst with Zhongtai Securities, said the number of performances for children in China has risen to 12,900. There are 5.68 million viewers.

Of the eight existing categories, sports and games stood at 34.5 percent of the total number of shows. Concerts dropped to 15 percent of the total but retained the No 1 rank, followed by the category of plays and operas.

In November, there were 1,533 live shows, down 7 percent from October. Of them, culture-related shows were the most .

The annual box office for live shows has grown to 13 billion yuan. In 2016, the music and live shows market generated 16 billion yuan in overall revenue, up 6.7 percent from 2015, with the box office contributing 4.3 billion yuan.

Live shows have attracted more investment and attention. Li Ruigang, chairman of China Media Capital, a venture capital firm, said China's performance and live shows industry has grown at 30 to 40 percent in recent years. Demand is high for professional-grade, cross-geography entertainment.

Shenzhen-listed Lead Eastern plans to invest 900 million yuan in Leehom Wang's global touring concert, which would mark its foray into the live shows market.

On Jan 10, Chinese Media Capital set up CMC Live, a firm that integrates 21 domestic live performance providers and offers a live show platform. CMC Live is expected to transcend geographical boundaries of the show business.

The 21 live show operators include firms that have top talents or agents on their rolls, and first-tier performance operators such as Star Class Co, which covers resources in Guangzhou, Shanghai Magnolia, which organized the 2016 concert of top singer Faye Wang, and Chengdu Maisui Culture, which performs a similar role in southwestern regions.