Diversity In TV Down 12% With Hispanic Representation Particularly Low, Samba TV Reports
TV appears to have taken a bit of a hit on the diversity front in the first half of the year.
According to a new report from Samba TV, while diversity in the United States continue to grow, that is not being represented on the small screen. The company says that representation of non-white leads on television was down 12% year-over-year.
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Breaking that down even further, Samba reports that just 39% of the top-billed actors in the top 50 TV shows of 2023 were non-white. Hispanic actors took the hardest hit, accounting for just 6% of top-billed actors in those shows — a 40% decrease in representation year-over-year.
The company used first-party data to determine the Top 25 shows each from linear and streaming that were released in January through May of 2024.
That’s not to say that diverse casting doesn’t attract an audience. In fact, as has been proved countless times, the truth is quite the opposite. Samba’s latest findings show a positive correlation of 39% among non-white households watching programs with higher percentages of non-white stars. Black households saw the strongest correlation at 46%.
As is typical, Samba found that audiences are more likely to watch a show where they see themselves represented.
Among those top performers that Samba mentioned were Netflix’s Griselda and Disney’s Echo, both of which featured casts with entirely non-white leads. On linear, Samba says CBS’ The Equalizer and ABC’s Will Trent are both performing well among different ethnic groups.
According to Samba, Black representation appears to be stronger on linear TV, while Asian representation shines on streaming thanks to FX’s Shōgun and Max’s The Sympathizer. However, Samba does admit the streaming representation for Black leads was also fairly strong, pointing to Prime Video as a “top platform among Black audiences” with shows like The Underdoggs, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and Role Play.
The report shines a particular light on the lack of Hispanic representation across both mediums. Just 3% of the leads of the top linear shows were Hispanic, which Samba points to as concerningly low.
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