During upfronts week, new research sheds light on representation on-screen

Networks have come to this year’s upfronts with new Marvel trailers, performances from stars like Miley Cyrus, and an upcoming Lizzo documentary in hand. But these days, a network’s success isn’t just about star power. More and more, advertisers are rewarding networks that are dedicated to diversity in their programming.

Zoom in: Two new reports—one from Nielsen and one from ANA’s Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing—shed light on how the TV industry is doing when it comes to on-screen representation.

Streaming gains: Nielsen’s latest report analyzed the top 1,500 broadcast, cable, and streaming shows to measure Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander representation.

• Asian actors represented an 11% share of screen in streaming shows last year, almost doubling from 6.1% in 2020. Across all formats measured, Asian representation increased from 3.5% in 2020 to 4.6% in 2021.

Purchasing power: More than half of Asian respondents to Nielsen’s survey said they’re more likely to buy from brands that advertise during programs featuring Asians.

TV’s report card 😒: The Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing’s Cultural Inclusion Accelerator Report Card assigned letter grades to broadcast networks and streaming platforms using a tool that “measures viewers’ cultural sentiment of content,” the organization said in a statement.

• Based on ~68,000 responses, the report claims the measurement tool “confirms that very little progress has been made by content creators.”
• All networks that received an A grade focus on underrepresented groups: Univision Deportes, Univision, Telemundo, Estrella, and BET. Traditional networks like CBS, ESPN, ABC, and NBC were graded B, and streamers like Paramount+, Netflix, and Hulu fell in the C range. Apple TV and Showtime received the lowest grades.

+1: Diversity was also a major focal point of last week’s IAB Podcast Upfront.—AM