In 2024, there were fewer leading roles featuring women and women of color than the year before, despite households of color and female audiences continuing to drive top show rankings, according to UCLA’s newly released Hollywood Diversity Report. Published on Tuesday, the full report takes a comprehensive look at the top 250 streaming series of last year, examining the diversity of its actors, creators and audience.
Both behind and in front of the camera, the report shows that diversity has continued to slip across television. Four out of five leads in the most-watched streaming comedies and dramas are white men, and the demographic accounts for close to 79% of all show creators, an increase from last year’s 77%. In contrast, nearly all other races and ethnicities were underrepresented as leads in top shows and as show creators; Only 49 of the 222 scripted series studied within the report were created by a female, while creators of color only accounted for 8% of show creators.
“Unfortunately, this wasn’t unexpected, especially with the election results in 2024,” said Darnell Hunt, executive vice chancellor and provost at UCLA, who co-founded the report. “When you shut the door on diversity, you shut out opportunities for more perspectives, collaboration, exploration and growth. Without vigilance and pressure, the industry will continue to invest less and less in these creators and stories to the detriment of their bottom line.”
However, despite these numbers, researchers found that underrepresented stories — regardless of the lead’s gender — increased their shares in 2024. Titles that featured such stories increased in 2024, captivating audiences across household and viewer groups. Of note, too, is that women-centered stories appeared as the most common secondary story arena across shows (Apple TV’s “Ted Lasso” is cited as an example), despite a slip in women-led shows overall. In addition, these shows were uniquely able to garner attention and social engagement: “Bridgerton” and “House of the Dragon” appear as two notable examples.
“If a show features some kind of underrepresented story, such as a women-centered story, the median total interactions for these shows were talked about on social media more than five times than shows without,” said Michael Tran, co-author and sociologist.
When it comes to the top shows, the report also shows that audiences are tuning in to current shows at higher rates than back catalogs — a major switch-up from 2023, which saw “Suits,” the legal drama that concluded in 2019, dominate in total minutes viewed. In comparison, shows including “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Family Guy” and “NCIS” lead for 2024, with the only library title being “The Big Bang Theory,” which also concluded in 2019. Limited series also captivated audiences, with Netflix’s “The Perfect Couple” and “Griselda” appearing in the top 250.
“In 2023, streaming viewers heavily binged many shows that were no longer in production,” said Ana-Christina Ramón, co-founder of the Hollywood Diversity Report, who directs UCLA’s Entertainment and Media Research Initiative. “But nostalgia can only go so far. We’re seeing a shift in 2024, where people are bingeing most heavily on long-running TV series that are still in production, probably so that they can catch up and watch new episodes with current storylines. Ultimately, people may want ‘comfort’ viewing at times, but not at the expense of current stories.”
Looking to the future, researchers stress the need for the industry to continue to evolve, especially as audiences shift their attention to their phones and away from traditional television programs.
“We know more and more people are watching social video and alternative forms of television like verticals and micro-dramas,” said Jade Abston, a doctoral candidate in cinema media studies, who also co-authored the report. “The industry needs to think deeply about how they can adapt and appeal to consumers.”
variety.com
#Underrepresented #Stories #Grow #Streaming
