SAN FRANCISCO—A new analysis from Samba TV has found that cast diversity is a key factor in deciding what to watch and that some groups, notably Hispanic and Asian audiences, are underrepresented in the top 50 TV programs in the U.S.
Samba TV’s newly released "State of Diversity on TV" report found that over half of people say that they are more likely to watch TV where they see themselves represented.
The vast majority (90%) of Black audiences say that having diverse representation is important to them when choosing what content to watch. In addition, 80% of Hispanic people said diverse content is important when choosing what to watch.
“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.”
The analysis encompassed programs 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 the cast composition of top-billed actors and actresses throughout each program.
Based on that analysis, Samba TV is reporting that within the top 50 TV shows, 42% of top-billed actors were Hispanic, Black, Asian, or another ethnicity such as mixed, while 58% were white.
The report found a positive correlation of 43% among households with Black, Hispanic, Asian, mixed race, or another non-white ethnicity watching programs with higher percentages of non-white stars. The correlation indicates that cast diversity is a selling point among diverse households.
Black households saw the strongest correlation with watching shows with Black leads, with a positive correlation of 67% among Black households watching programs with a higher percentage of Black leads.
But the new report also found that Hispanic representation is far below the U.S. Census levels and is lacking across both linear television and streaming.
Despite making up almost 20% of the U.S., Hispanic actors are underrepresented on TV. Across both linear and streaming, only 10% of lead actors were Hispanic, despite Hispanic people comprising 18% of the U.S. census, Samba TV reported.
In fact, none of the top 50 shows featured a majority Hispanic cast, compared to multiple shows featuring majority white, Black, and Asian leads, the researchers said.
In addition, less than half of the top 50 programs featured Hispanic or Asian leads.
The lack of representation standings in stark contrast to the survey results finding that 80% of Hispanic people said diverse content is important when choosing what to watch. That finding highlighted how content creators and advertisers would benefit from diversifying casts to include Hispanic representation, the report concluded.
Other key findings included:
- Linear programming reaches Black audiences with Black representation. 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". The vast majority (90%) 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.
- With more and more of the U.S. identifying as ethnicities other than white, studios will fail to drive interest in new programs if they do not adequately reflect the population.
- Streamers like Netflix are leaning into diverse representation in their content. Notably, the most diverse streaming shows were all Netflix originals.
The full report is available here.
