TV Study: Black Roles Are Mixed Bag

Amidst promises by television networks to increase racial diversity within their programming, African Americans are overrepresented relative to their percentage of the U.S. population but “ghettoized” in situation comedies, while other minority groups remain underrepresented, according to a new UCLA study released Tuesday.

The report, titled “Prime Time in Black and White: Making Sense of the 2001 Fall Season,” represents the initial phase of a five-year study that will monitor the presence of blacks in prime-time network television. The findings are based on a content analysis of 224 episodes of 85 scripted series broadcast on the four major networks, UPN and the WB in October and November 2001.

According to the study, African American characters were most visible on UPN, appearing largely on Monday and Saturday nights. These characters represent 28% of the network’s characters, compared with 12% on other networks. CBS had the second-highest percentage, with 17%.

The study also said that whites overwhelmingly occupy pivotal executive producer positions. Although official figures were not available, black executive producers could only be identified for five of the 85 shows covered by the study. Four of those shows were sitcoms featuring predominantly black casts.

“Much of the promise of change on behalf of the networks has been lip service to appease people,” said Darnell Hunt, director of the UCLA Center for African American Study and author of the report. “There’s been all this anticipation of change, and there has been very little. Most of the networks have thrown out a few symbolic gestures and left most of the programming practices intact.”

Hunt was also the co-author of a 2000 Screen Actors Guild study that resulted in similar findings. A recently issued report by Children Now, a nonprofit organization, also concluded that the networks have made little progress toward furthering prime-time diversity.

Although the study raises questions about gains African Americans have achieved in terms of the quality of their roles and behind the camera, as a group they have far more opportunities in prime time than other minorities. Latinos, for example, comprise 12.5% of the nation’s population but account for only 2% of characters on all prime-time network shows, according to the study. By contrast, African Americans and whites jointly comprise 82% of the population yet account for 92% of all prime-time characters.

This study’s release comes a few weeks after the announcement of the new fall TV lineup, which has spurred renewed discussion about whether the four major networks have taken steps to fulfill pledges made more than two years ago to increase minority representation in front of and behind the camera. While most new comedies and dramas feature at least one minority in their casts, only two of the 26 new fall series on ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox feature a minority in a starring role.

Network officials have stated that they feel as if they are making significant progress on the issue of diversity, pointing out that several minority performers are featured in key roles in the new dramas and comedies. The major networks have also initiated showcases to find fresh minority talent, and several new programs on smaller networks--including the WB, UPN and cable channels such as HBO and Showtime--prominently feature minority actors and actresses.