UCLA Hollywood diversity report highlights the importance of women in TV audience

Despite new parameters, UCLA’s latest TV diversity study has found that women and people of color remain underrepresented in key creative and lead roles in Hollywood even though they are a crucial demographic when it comes to viewership. Released on Tuesday, “UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report Presents: Streaming Television in 2023” marks a move away from the report’s usual format of examining the current television landscape through the lens of traditional TV seasons. Shows now aren’t just trying to stand out among the latest shiny offerings — they are competing against a whole catalog from the past.” The study looked at the top 250 television series that were available on major streaming services from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2023 to examine the race, gender and disability status of lead actors; the race and gender of series creators; the genres and arenas of the show; Nielsen viewer ratings and total minutes viewed, and the race and gender of those with television deals. “Focusing on total minutes watched gives an advantage to older shows that have more episodes and seasons on streaming platforms,” said Darnell Hunt, the interim chancellor at UCLA who founded the report with Ramón. Inevitably, that just feeds into the legacy of inequity that was built into the industry.” So while long-running favorites such as “Suits,” “The Big Bang Theory” and “Grey’s Anatomy” may lead charts that look only at the total minutes viewed, when viewership ratings are considered, shows such as “Bluey,” “Cocomelon,” “Wednesday,” “Queen Charlotte” and “Beef” would also crack the top-10 charts, according to the report.