Report: Representation key in choosing what to watch
June 21, 2023
Samba TV, a provider of omniscreen data and measurement, has released its State of Diversity on TV report, an analysis of representation across top TV shows of 2023 and how that representation impacts viewership.
As the US grows in diversity, content creators, marketers, and advertisers have an opportunity to boost engagement with programming decisions like cast composition, storytelling, and more. Samba TV’s insights indicate cast diversity is a key indicator of viewership among diverse households. The report’s findings also illustrate a television and entertainment landscape marked by dramatic underrepresentation of some demographics, mainly Hispanic and Asian audiences, as well as an ad market that is also underserving these viewers.
The analysis encompassed programmes released on streaming and traditional linear television, based on the top 25 highest-reaching direct-to-streaming and top 25 highest-reaching linear TV premiere episodes released between January and May. Insights into representation were sourced from cast composition of top-billed actors and actresses throughout each programme.
“The data shows that greater on-screen representation will tend to increase viewership overall and among diverse populations,” said Samba TV CEO and co-founder Ashwin Navin. “Audiences are deeply connected to what they watch on TV. Although we live in the golden age of content, diversity on-screen still does not adequately represent the population in all its identities.”
Samba TV’s report sheds further light on diversity trends in television viewership, which include:
Over half of people say that they are more likely to watch TV where they see themselves represented.
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Within the top 50 TV shows, 42 per cent of top-billed actors were Hispanic, Black, Asian, or another ethnicity such as mixed, while 58 per cent were white.
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The report’s findings indicated a positive correlation of 43 per cent among households with Black, Hispanic, Asian, mixed race, or another non-white ethnicity watching programmes with higher percentages of non-white stars, indicating that cast diversity is a selling point among diverse households.
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Representation is a deciding factor when audiences choose what to watch on TV. Black households saw the strongest correlation with watching shows with Black leads, with a positive correlation of 67 per cent among Black households watching programs with a higher percentage of Black leads.
Hispanic representation is far below the US Census levels and is lacking across both linear television and streaming.
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Despite making up almost 20 per cent of the US, Hispanic actors are underrepresented on TV. Across both linear and streaming, only 10 per cent of lead actors were Hispanic, despite Hispanic people comprising 18 per cent of the US census.
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In fact, none of the top 50 shows featured a majority Hispanic cast, compared to multiple shows featuring majority white, Black, and Asian leads.
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Less than half of the top 50 programmes featured Hispanic or Asian leads.
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With 80 per cent of Hispanic people saying diverse content is important when choosing what to watch, content creators and advertisers would benefit from diversifying casts to include Hispanic representation.
Linear programming reaches Black audiences with Black representation.
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More than 1 in 4 of the lead actors among the top linear shows was Black, and that representation paid off for those shows from a viewership standpoint. Multiple shows with a majority Black leading cast over-indexed in the triple digits based on Black household viewership, including BMF, Snowfall and Power Book II: Ghost.
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The vast majority (90 per cent) of Black audiences say that having diverse representation is important to them when choosing what content to watch.
Studios should look to increase representation, particularly with Asian and Hispanic audiences.
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With more and more of the US identifying as ethnicities other than white, studios will fail to drive interest in new programs if they do not adequately reflect the population.
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Streamers like Netflix are leaning into diverse representation in their content. Notably, the most diverse streaming shows were all Netflix originals.