Hispanics Account for 10% of Lead Actors Across Top 50 TV Shows | Analysis

Lucas Manfredi
·4 min read
1

Despite making up 18% of the U.S., Hispanic actors are underrepresented on TV, according to a new analysis released by Samba TV.

The analysis, which is based on the top 25 highest-reaching direct-to-streaming and top 25 highest-reaching linear TV premiere episodes that were released between January 1 and May 1, found that 42% of top-billed actors were Hispanic, Black, Asian, or another ethnicity such as mixed, while 58% were white. At the show level, 48 out of the top 50 programs featured a white lead, over two-thirds included a Black lead, and 56% featured mixed leads. However, less than half included Hispanic or Asian leads.

Ethnic-Diversity-of-TV-Leads-vs-U.S.-Census
Ethnic Diversity of Leads in Top 50 TV Shows vs U.S. Census (Samba TV)

Across both linear and streaming, only 10% of lead actors were Hispanic, despite the group comprising 18% of the U.S. according to most recent census data. None of the top 50 shows featured a majority Hispanic cast, compared to multiple shows featuring majority white, Black, and Asian leads.

Ethnic-Diversity-of-Leads
Ethnic Diversity of Leads in Top 50 TV Shows (Samba TV)

Black actors made up more than 1 in 4 of the lead actors among the top linear shows, the survey notes. Black representation (including mixed Black leads) was particularly strong on linear, impacted by shows with majority Black casts like “BMF” and “Snowfall,” while Asian representation was strong on streaming, led by shows like Netflix’s “Beef.”

Shows-with-Highest-Percentage-of-Diverse-Representation
TV Shows with Highest Percentage of Diverse Representation (Samba TV)

Looking at gender representation, over two-thirds of shows were dominated by men, with majority-women shows comprising just 32% of the top 50. Women made up only 45% of top-billed cast members across the top 50 shows, despite the U.S. having had more females than males since 1946.

Also Read:
Hollywood Is Making Diversity Progress on Streaming But Not Theatrical, UCLA Study Shows

Samba TV’s findings show 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, indicating that cast diversity is a selling point among diverse households.

90% of Black audiences surveyed said that having diverse representation is important to them when choosing what content to watch, compared to 80% of Hispanic audiences and 70% of Asian audiences. Conversely, there was a negative correlation of 43% among households with white viewers watching shows featuring diverse casts.

Across linear TV shows, there was a 38% positive correlation between diverse households watching shows featuring a higher proportion of diverse leads. On streaming, there was an even higher positive correlation of 53% between diverse households watching TV shows featuring a higher proportion of diverse leads.

Most-Diverse-Streaming-Shows
Most Diverse Streaming Shows (Samba TV)
Most-Diverse-Linear-Shows
Most Diverse Linear Shows (Samba TV)

The top five most diverse streaming shows included Netflix’s “Beef,” “Sweet Tooth,” “Shadow and Bone,” “Obsession” and “Kaleidoscope,” while the top five most diverse linear shows included Starz’s “BMF” and “Power Book II: Ghost,” ABC’s “Not Dead Yet” and “Will Trent,” and FX’s “Snowfall.”

Also Read:
BET’s Head of Media Sales Says Diversity Needs to Be a ‘Business Decision’

Despite their high and growing proportion in the U.S. population, Hispanic households are only served 15% of ad impressions. Asian audiences are also being under-served, with just 4% of ad impressions reaching them. White audiences, however, are over-served the most with 64% of ad impressions reaching this group.

“As Netflix opens doors for advertisers looking to reach fragmented streaming audiences, data shows that it’s the best platform to reach underserved Hispanic households,” the report states. “While Hispanic households may be soaking up Spanish-language programming via the top linear networks, on Netflix this audience is seeking out international content.”

The top five indexing streaming premieres among Hispanic households were Netflix’s “Triptych,” “Sky High: The Series,” “Who Were We Running From?,” “The Snow Girl,” and “Bling Empire: New York.” Meanwhile, the top five indexing linear networks among Hispanic households were Telemundo, Univision, Unimas, Estrella Media and Galavision.

Hispanic-Household-Top-5-Streaming-Premieres-and-Linear-Networks
Hispanic Households’ Top 5 Streaming Premieres and Linear Networks (Samba TV)

For Black households, the top five streaming premieres were Netflix’s “My Name is Mo’Nique,” “Unseen,” and “Rough Diamonds,” Prime Video’s “Swarm,” and Hulu’s “Unprisoned,” while the top five linear networks were BET, BET Her, TV One, Bounce and VH1.

Black-Household-Top-5-Streaming-Premieres-and-Linear-Networks
Black Households’ Top 5 Streaming Premieres and Linear Networks (Samba TV)

For Asian households, the top five streaming premieres were Netflix’s “Bling Empire: New York,” “How to Get Rich,” “Physical: 100,” and “Beef,” and Prime Video’s “Citadel,” while the top five linear networks were the Tennis Channel, NBA TV, beIN Sport, CNBC and MTV Live.

Asian-Households-Top-5-Streaming-Premieres-and-Linear-Networks
Asian Households’ Top 5 Streaming Premieres and Linear Networks (Samba TV)

The top five advertisers by percentage of impressions served were Bounce, Rybelsus, Clearblue, Burlington and Tylenol for Hispanic households; Rooms To Go, Morgan and Morgan, Carmax, Burlington and CarShield for Black households; and BMW, AAA, Burlington, Bob’s Discount Furniture and Carmax for Asian households.

Also Read:
A Wave of Native Representation on TV Is Rising – but It Faces an Unforgiving Media Market