M+E Connections

Gracenote, the content data business unit of Nielsen, has released a new report quantifying the visibility of different racial, ethnic, gender and disability groups among primary cast in new 2024 TV programming on major streaming platforms and linear channels.

Tapping Gracenote Inclusion Analytics data, the report sheds light on opportunities for media buyers to invest in shows that authentically represent diverse characters and narratives to complement diverse-owned media ad buys.

With major streamers and networks releasing new titles led by diverse talent, new opportunities for marketers to leverage ad inventory within inclusive programming open up. Gracenote “share of cast” data quantifies cast representation among the top-10 lead cast members of programs across a range of dimensions and intersectional groups.

Key findings from the new Gracenote report include:

• Hulu is the most inclusive in terms of Asian American Pacific Islanders with 32.2 percent AAPI share of cast
• Disney+ leads among streaming platforms and linear networks in terms of Hispanic inclusivity with 31.2 percent share of cast
• NBC is tops among linear networks and streaming platforms for Black inclusivity with 30 percent share of cast
• Paramount+ and CBS are roughly even on LGBTQ representation with 9.2 percent and 9 percent share of cast, respectively
• Fox leads among linear networks and streaming platforms for disabled inclusivity with 11.3 percent share of cast

Focusing on Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) characters, 68.5 percent of this year’s premiering TV content overall qualifies as inclusive according to Gracenote data.

For streaming programming, the presence of BIPOC characters jumps to 75.3 percent. So, the outlook for diverse content slated to premiere this fall looks promising.

“The Gracenote report captures useful data and insights that can be applied across strategic planning, media buying and activation, reporting and analytics,” said Jennifer Garcia, SVP of data science and research at Publicis Media. “From providing deeper insights on consumer media habits to helping us understand talent across the entire content value chain to providing additional opportunities for diverse content/creative investment where supply and inventory challenges exist, this report provides a robust overview of optimising diverse ad spending in TV.”

“The diverse make-up of primary cast in the new crop of 2024 TV programming holds the potential to help brands to make authentic connections with diverse audiences,” said Halleh Kianfar, VP of product at Gracenote. “Gracenote Inclusion Analytics empowers media buyers to understand these opportunities clearly so they can make data-driven investment decisions on behalf of their clients and increase the inclusivity of their ad spending more broadly.”

Gracenote Inclusion Analytics taps the company’s unmatched trove of content metadata to shed light on the gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and disability of talent appearing in popular TV programming. The solution empowers media buyers with critical information around on-screen diversity and representation to enable more inclusive advertising investments.

Gracenote is the content data business unit of Nielsen, providing entertainment metadata, content IDs and related offerings to the world’s leading creators, distributors and platforms. Gracenote technology enables advanced content navigation and discovery capabilities helping individuals to easily connect to the TV shows, movies, music and sports they love while delivering powerful content analytics making complex business decisions simpler.