Entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and global entertainment analytics company Parrot Analytics announced findings from their joint landmark report on the demand for television content featuring diverse on-screen talent. CAA’s Head of Data, Andre Vargas, was joined by Jaime Feld and Ben Dey, Co-Heads of CAA’s Television Talent department, along with representatives from Parrot Analytics, to make the announcement at Mipcom Online+.
The CAA/Parrot Analytics study reveals that, since 2017, diverse debuts have grown to surpass non-diverse titles, and that by 2019, the demand for diverse debuts among the Top 100 had doubled, surpassing non-diverse titles for the first time.
“This study solidifies what we’ve known for some time – diversity wins onscreen,” said Kevin Huvane, Co-Chairman of CAA. “CAA will continue leading the industry in prioritizing diversity in our client work, while also encouraging storytellers and business partners to tell stories onscreen that authentically represent the audiences who are watching,” he added.
“We are proud to partner with CAA to help move the industry towards a more equitable future for all talent. We remain committed to our long-term objective to showcase the value of diversity and inclusion as we continue to unlock the magic of content for our partners around the globe,” added Wared Seger, CEO & Co-Founder at Parrot Analytics.
The CAA/Parrot Analytics study further demonstrates that diverse tentpoles, defined as the top 25 most in-demand U.S. scripted debuts in any given year, have taken the lead in demand over non-diverse tentpoles. Yet not all racial and ethnic groups are equally well represented in scripted debuts. Despite being one of the fastest growing demographics in the United States, Hispanics and Latinos were significantly underrepresented. While 18% of the U.S. population is Hispanic or Latino (U.S. Census 2019), this group is underrepresented with only 5% of actors in scripted debuts for the period 2017-2019. Conversely, the study found that whites were overrepresented with 60% of the population per the census and 65% of talent.
In presenting the report’s findings, Parrot Analytics Insights Analyst, Nicole Zamanzadeh, remarked: “Our study empirically evidences that successful shows today are at least as diverse as the US population. Using the world’s only global measurement system of demand, we empower our partners to listen to the rich tapestry of audiences to nimbly respond to the challenges and opportunities of an ever-changing entertainment industry. This study exemplifies why our empirical metric of observed behaviors is so important”.
The CAA/Parrot Analytics study also discovered that audience demand for shows with diverse casts (+112.5%) has grown faster than the industry’s supply of shows with diverse casts (+42%), and since 2017, the demand for highly diverse debuts (above 60% cast diversity) has more than tripled (+211%) outperforming both non-diverse debuts (below 40% cast diversity) and moderately diverse debuts (greater than 40% but less than 60% cast diversity).
In the study, only diverse broadcast debuts consistently outperformed and were more in-demand than non-diverse debuts between 2017 and 2019. The portion of broadcast debuts’ diverse series regular talent has steadily remained above 40%, the highest of any platform.
Moreover, in 2019, for the first time, streamers’ diverse debuts were more in-demand than their non-diverse debuts. Streamers have steadily increased their percentage of talent diversity in debut series regular casts. This number of highly diverse debuts (more than 60% diverse cast) corresponds with a greater share of streaming titles in the top 100 debuts. Streamers released 2.5 times more highly diverse debuts in 2019 than 2017.