Despite the new parameters, UCLA’s latest TV Diversity Study found that women and people of color remain in major creative roles and leading roles in Hollywood, despite being an important demographic in terms of viewership. It turns out that it is still undervalued.
The UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report Presents: Streaming TV in 2023, released Tuesday, marks a departure from the report’s usual format of examining the current television landscape through the lens of a traditional television season.
Instead, the new study looked at the top TV shows watched on streaming platforms in 2023, including “library” content, which is shows that have ended but are available for streaming. Rather than focusing on what kind of programs are being produced, this study focuses on what kinds of programs viewers watch.
“With TV production shut down for much of 2023 and streaming viewing dominating broadcast and cable, we are changing the way we research TV to better understand what viewers want to watch on the small screen. We decided there was a need,” Ana-Cristina Ramon said. The co-founder of Hollywood Diversity Report said in a statement. “The television industry has changed dramatically over the past decade. Today’s shows aren’t just trying to stand out among the latest and brightest, they’re competing with the entire back catalogue.”
The study looked at the top 250 television series available on major streaming services from January 1 to December 31, 2023, and examined the race, gender, and disability status of lead actors. The race and gender of the series creator. The genre and field of the show. Nielsen ratings and total viewing time, race and gender of viewers with television contracts.
The study argues that ranking programs by total viewing time tells an incomplete story. According to this metric, 77.5% of the most-watched streaming shows in 2023 will have a white actor in the lead, 5.5% of the most-watched shows will have a black lead, 4.4% will have a Latinx lead, 2.2% will have an Asian lead, 1.8% had Middle Eastern leads. or led by a North African actor, and 9.3% led by a multi-ethnic actor. There were no shows led by Native actors.
However, the report shows that shows starring actors of color or featuring stories from underrepresented communities have a median viewership rating (percentage of TV-owning households that watch a particular show). ) was high across all viewership groups. This means that these shows are more popular among all viewers.
“Looking at total viewing time favors older shows with more episodes and seasons on streaming platforms,” said Darnell Hunt, interim chancellor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who co-authored the report with Ramon. “Current programming, which our research has repeatedly shown to be more diverse, faces a disadvantage in some ways from the beginning. Inevitably, it’s a result of the inequities built into the industry. It will further our legacy.”
So while long-time favorites like “Suits,” “The Big Bang Theory,” and “Grey’s Anatomy” may lead the charts based on total viewing time alone, “Blue ” and “Cocomelon” are likely to rank high. According to the report, “Wednesday,” “Queen Charlotte” and “Beef” could also break into the top 10 chart.
The study also found that women and people of color continue to be the primary entertainment audience. Both demographics had the majority of viewers based on ratings compared to their share of the U.S. population, but women accounted for the majority of viewing time. According to the report, women are the most avid television viewers.
