UCLA’s second annual Hollywood Diversity Report found that, of the top 250 current and library scripted titles streaming in 2024, women and people of color faced limited opportunities on and off screen.
Over 91.7% of these scripted streaming series were created by a white person, and 78.9% were created by a white man — increases from 2023’s data. Only 22% of the top series were made by a female creator.
“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.”
Additionally, nearly 80% of leads in the most-watched streaming comedies and dramas were white actors. Women also saw fewer lead roles in 2024 falling to 34.3%, down from 39% the previous year. For women of color, this percentage was even lower, making up only 8.3% of these shows as leads.
The team examined the top 250 streaming TV series of 2024, both current and library titles, regardless of language, ranked by their Nielsen total minutes viewed between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 of that year on major streaming services, such as Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, Netflix, Paramount+ and Peacock.
Because the data set included current and library series on streaming services, a more glaring lack of diversity appeared in the results.
The study also found that, despite the lack of representation in making TV projects, women and people of color drove up rankings of current television programming. They were overrepresented as viewers for the majority of the top 10 shows ranked by household ratings, including “The Gentleman” and “Nobody Wants This,” both series in their first seasons.
As opposed to the 2023 findings, the Hollywood Diversity Report noted that, rather than bingeing nostalgic favorites, audiences turned to new content and in turn more underrepresented storylines. Regardless of who plays the lead, top streaming shows that included underrepresented stories are more popular among all of the household and viewer groups. The study found that audiences wanted content that they could discuss online, often leaning into the niche.
“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 of the report.
“It’s very simple — the industry loses out on becoming a part of conversations online if it only relies on outdated storylines,” added Ana-Christina Ramón, co-founder of the Hollywood Diversity Report. “Hollywood needs to invest in creatives from underrepresented communities, whose lived experiences may inspire them to produce relatable, yet original stories that audiences crave.”
This was especially true of top streaming shows featuring underrepresented stories, such as “Bridgerton” and “House of the Dragon,” which garnered high levels of social media engagement.
People with disabilities also remained underrepresented in the data set, with only 14.4% of shows featuring a lead actor with a known disability.
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