Measuring Inclusive Casting: Hulu tops for AAPI with a 32.2% share of Cast

Credit: James Dittiger/SYFY

Media representation has long been an issue for Asian Americans, to the point where  8Asians has a series dedicated toward representation in commercials.  So exactly how are Asian Americans doing?  Nielson’s Gracenote division has announced that they have released a new report on inclusion looking at 2024 TV programming.  A high note for representation:  the streamer Hulu leads with AAPI representation at an impressive 32.2% share of cast. A low note: ad spending is inequitable and not as inclusive.

You might wonder how Gracenote calculated these statistics.  Could Hulu being skewing the numbers by including extras and non-leading roles?  Only the top-10 leading characters were counted on 124 shows on streaming and traditional TV.  To me, Hulu’s numbers makes sense.  The Wife and I recently watched Shogun, which has an almost all Asian leading cast.  Hulu streams some shows featuring Asian Americans that I haven’t even had a chance to get watch, like Reginald the Vampire starring Jacob Batalon (shown above).

The full report highlights that some of the most popular TV programming from last year had diversity at higher levels than the general US population. It also includes focused statistics on specific ethnic groups. You can download full report Gracenote’s full report here.