After reading about HBO’s 2020 APA Visionaries contest winners, I was reminded of another annual Asian American media event, Nielsen’s annual report on Asian American consumers, 2020 edition. Nielsen claims that Asian American content from performers who are also content makers such as as Ken Jeong, Ali Wong, and Awkwafina, has led to increased Asian American viewership, a potential $1.2 trillion market. I like the idea that including Asian Americans into mainstream media roles and decision making is not just about diversity but good business sense also.
Through the years, Nielsen has pointed out increasing Asian American buying power . We talked about one of their reports from 2012, and Asian American consumer market has almost doubled since then. Nielsen’s report doesn’t mention the impact of the pandemic, though, which has affected Asian Americans economics employment disproportionately.
I didn’t see the report mention this, but what we really encourages me is that Asian American content like Always be my Maybe, The Half of It, and Awkwafina is Nora from Queens seems to be popular with not just an Asian Americans but with a wider audience. That’s a positive sign for the long term inclusion of Asian Americans in entertainment.
