••• entertainment research

Growth in digital video viewership is the fastest among younger generations of AAPI, Black and Hispanic populations, with the largest shares of multicultural populations being Millennials, Gen Z or younger, but these audiences still want more acknowledgement from entertainment creators, according to findings from digital media company My Code’s Multicultural Entertainment report, which examines multicultural film and TV audience behaviors. 

Representation. Multicultural viewers don’t always feel understood by production studios and in turn, studios don’t always make an authentic connection. While nearly all multicultural adults are frequent film and TV viewers, roughly eight in 10 want to be considered during development but only a third feel the industry understands them.

Diversity in talent and production. Overall, multicultural audiences want more authentic representation in TV and movies; 65% want more depictions of multicultural people in ways that break down racial stereotypes, 67% want more diversity among talent playing leading roles and 67% also want more diversity among the directors and writers that influence content.

Movies. Eight in 10 multicultural adults view movies weekly and it is clear that they value flexibility when watching movies at home, as streaming is the leading at-home movie access point. Over half of multicultural audiences watch action, comedy, drama or adventure movies, revealing that movie genre choice is not monolithic.

TV. Nearly nine in 10 multicultural adults watch TV shows weekly and there is evidence that there is more preference for drama and action/adventure shows, with 49% typically watching each genre and 35% indicating that they typically watch sitcoms. In other words, drama and action/adventure are likely popular TV media diet staples, with other genres filling out individuals’ TV consumption similar to surround...