UCLA Diversity Report Finds White Men Dominate Most-Watched Streaming Shows as Lead Actors, Series Creators

variety.com:

Andrés Buenahora UCLA‘s Entertainment and Media Research Initiative has unveiled its latest Hollywood Diversity Report, this time focusing on streaming television in 2023, and it found that “streaming audiences want new offerings, diverse stories as most watched metrics fall short of capturing the market.” According to the report, set to be released Tuesday, streaming audiences have a desire for diverse stories and female viewers are a significant force in regards to total viewership.

The study indicated that women overindexed in regards to nine of the top 10 shows ranked by both total household minutes viewed and total household ratings.

Households of color were found to be overrepresented among viewer demographics for 6 of the top 10 shows based on ratings. Data indicated that women represented the largest audiences, even exceeding their population share for each top 10 streaming series, with the exception of “The Last of Us,” for which women made up 46.9% of viewers and “Family Guy,” for which women made up 46.7% of viewers. “Suits” was found to top the streaming charts in 2023, during a year in which few new shows aired and many television series were cancelled, partly due to the Hollywood strikes and overall business contraction. “With the halt in television productions for most of 2023 and streaming viewership dominating broadcast and cable, we decided we needed to change the way we examined television to better understand what viewers want to see on the small screen,” said Ana-Christina Ramón, co-founder of the Hollywood Diversity Report.

The study also found that among the most popular streaming series of 2023, a majority of content represented currently running series.