A majority of Black viewers are seeking out platforms and services that offer culturally relevant content, with SVOD and free, ad-supported streaming television leading the way, according to a new report from Horowitz Research. 

The report, Focus Black Volume I: Subscriptions 2024, revealed that content geared toward Black audiences is important for more than six in 10 Black households. The survey of 559 adult viewers of Black TV content, conducted this March and April, also reported that as traditional cable or satellite subscriptions decline, the penetration of subscription streaming services has remained steady among Black households. 

Also Read: FAST Channels Quickly Find Favor With African-American Viewers

About two-thirds of viewers of Black TV content subscribe to at least one subscription VOD service, with Netflix and Prime Video topping the list. Also, more than 40% of Black viewers have access to at least one Black-targeted SVOD service such as BET Plus, Zeus or ALLBLK, according to Horowitz, a division of M/A/R/C Research.

The study also reports that 75% of Black viewers use FAST services compared to 67% of total market consumers, a five-fold increase from 2019 when only 13% of Black households reported using these services. That compares favorably to a 25% increase during that same span among the total market usage. 

Also Read: Horowitz Research Will Resume Cultural Insights Forum in November

“Culturally relevant content has always been an important piece of the media pie for Black audiences,” Horowitz Research executive VP of insights and strategy lead Adriana Waterston said. “With retention being a challenge in the SVOD and vMVPD spaces and engagement a challenge for FAST/AVOD, offering top-notch Black content can be an important differentiator.” 

Horowitz Research will revive its Cultural Insights Forum conference this November after a six-year hiatus.

The forum, which focuses on how brands and media companies can drive business by reaching and serving diverse, multicultural audiences, will take place November 14 at the Telemundo Center in Miami, according to Horowitz. 

The conference's theme is “Polycultural R/Evolution: Content, Creative, and Connections in a Diverse America,” and will center on such topics as the cultural shifts and trends and how those shifts impact the way brands can and should speak to diverse consumers today, as well as engaging with today’s diverse consumer segments and audiences in an increasingly complex and fragmented digital media landscape, said the company.

The conference, which launched in 2000, has been on hiatus since 2018 due to the pandemic and during the past two years with the transition of ownership of Horowitz Research to M/A/R/C Research, according to the company. Registration for the forum will open soon, according to Horowitz officials.

“We are thrilled to bring back the Cultural Insights Forum to meet the demand for a research-and-strategy focused conference that brings together the best minds in the industry,” Horowitz Research executive VP, insights and strategy lead Adriana Waterston in a statement. “We look forward to unveiling our agenda which will be packed with top-notch speakers and insights related to today’s most pressing strategic questions. It’s a must-attend event for brands, advertisers, and media companies hoping to drive ROI by investing in America’s diverse audiences.”

NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises senior VP of strategy and insights Federico Garza also said of the forum: ‘Polycultural R/Evolution: Communities, Connections, and Content in a Diverse America’ aligns perfectly with our commitment to celebrate and elevate the rich tapestry of cultures that make up our audience. By partnering with Horowitz Research for this conference, we are not only highlighting the interconnectedness of diverse communities but also exploring how media can be a powerful tool in fostering connections and understanding across different cultural backgrounds. Together, we aim to inspire and drive the conversation forward on the evolving multicultural narrative of America.”

Long before the words diversity, equity and inclusion were staples in the media business, Adriana Waterston was enlisting the power of research, insights and data to educate executives about underserved opportunities and advocate for underserved audiences.

“Doing right by these communities,” she said, “is where I feel my calling is.”

That calling came after Waterston — who had early ambitions of a career in front of the camera and studied theater at Brandeis University, alongside Debra Messing — took a job at Horowitz Research, the firm founded by her sister and brother in-law, in what she thought was a stepping-stone role. She never left. 

“I discovered research and a passion for what we do, which is so fundamental to every aspect of entertainment and, by extension, culture,” Waterston said. “The media industry in and of itself is a critical piece of culture. What we put on screen, and what we deliver to consumers every single day, changes minds and changes hearts.”

Defining moments punctuate Waterston’s decades-long career. She received the CTAM TAMI Award for multicultural marketing in 2005, and more recently the Rafael Eli Pioneer in Hispanic Television Award, which she accepted on behalf of Horowitz Research at the 2023 Hispanic Television Summit. 

“Awards are most often given to high-profile ‘movers and shakers’ from major media and telecommunications companies,” said Joe Schramm, managing partner/president of Schramm Marketing Group. “It’s less often we get to celebrate the women from the smaller firms that also have made important contributions to our industry. Adriana is one of those.

“Adriana’s work has had a tremendous influence on the cable TV industry through the research and insights she and the Horowitz team deliver to their cable clients,” he added. “In turn, those clients apply these insights in their programming, marketing and branding strategies.”

Among the most salient defining moments for Waterston was the first time, in the early 2000s, when she realized the power to elevate her work from her own lived experience as a Latina born and raised in Puerto Rico.

“It was the first attempt at doing groups that included Spanish-language groups, Hispanic-descent groups, and it became evident to me that using my experiences as a launching point to advocate for the consumers we were serving was really powerful,” she said.

Changing the Narrative

She shepherded the Horowitz Cultural Insights Forum, a pioneering event with a strategy focus, designed to educate cable companies and networks about the value of investing in multicultural content and communities. It grew from a small group to nearly 400 attendees at its last gathering in 2018 — driving a data-backed narrative that changed the early cable roadmap and continues to spur inclusive decision-making for both on-screen representation in storytelling and in the workforce.

“Every year, every data set, the ones who were most likely to pay, the people who were most excited about the technology, were Black, Latinx, Asian and other multicultural groups,” she said. “And those were the years when cable was being heavily redlined. All the inner cities, all the Black neighborhoods — people were not laying cable in those areas and the rationale was, ‘These people don’t have enough money to pay for entertainment services.’ It couldn’t have been further from the truth.”

While the pendulum is swinging in the right direction, Waterston said the industry still has a way to go in combatting structural inequities. The solutions aren’t always clear-cut. 

“It’s not a question of whether the DE&I department or executive should be there,” Waterston said. “What I’m asking is, where’s the commitment to DE&I in all aspects of the organization? Where is the support for creators of color, what pipeline do you have to bring that type of talent in? If you look at your staff at all levels and see diversity, then you’re doing well. But if without the DE&I practice you don’t see that, then you’re failing.”

Horowitz last year was acquired by MARC Research, where Waterson now serves as executive VP, insights & strategy for the Horowitz Research division. She’s excited to bring her expertise in multicultural insights to clients in other verticals, while never straying far from her first love.

“My heart is still with what we do here in the media space,” she said. “I’m so passionate about storytelling and seeing the people that are my research subjects come to life on television or on the big screen. It’s so rewarding.” 

Black viewers have always been at the forefront of new media consumption, and the emerging free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) environment is no exception. 

As more Black viewers tune into FAST channels, though, industry observers are concerned the platform won’t keep up with an increasing demand for content that reflects the images and stories of that audience segment across all platforms. That’s because big media companies are gobbling up bandwidth by launching multiple channels based on their owned-and-operated networks and popular shows. A perception holds that independently-owned multicultural programmers might get stuck on the outside looking in.

Much as Black viewers have traditionally consumed more content on linear and streaming platforms than the total viewing audience — Black viewers watched TV an averaged of 44.32 hours a week compared to 32.18 hours for the general population during Q2 2023, according to Nielsen — but they’re also more likely to watch content from FAST services than viewers overall. Some 52% of Black viewers tune into a FAST service every month, compared to 45% of total market users, according to the 2023 Horowitz Research study “FOCUS Black: State of Media, Entertainment & Tech: Viewing Behaviors.”

Only subscription video-on-demand services like Netflix and Hulu topped FAST usage among Black consumers, Horowitz reported.

“Black viewers are among the most valuable for media brands because historically they are much more likely to spend more time with media and entertainment,” Horowitz Research executive VP of insights and strategy Adrianna Waterston said. “We’re seeing a continued pattern of how valuable Black consumers are to this space. That continues to be true even in this new ecosystem that now includes FAST.”

The survey of 643 Black TV viewers 18 years and older, conducted last February, also reports that older and younger Black adults use FAST platforms almost equally. Fifty-one percent of Black adults 18-34 viewed a FAST channel at least once a month, compared to 59% of adults 25-54 and 48% of adults older than 50. Comparatively, 88% of Black adults 18-34 used a streaming service, compared to only 65% of adults over 50.

The uniqueness of FAST channels, which offer a myriad of programming choices, similar to SVOD, but provide the lean-back viewing experience of traditional cable or broadcast TV, is quickly capturing the attention of African Americans. 

“Television has always been about being live and ad-supported, but when streaming came it changed behaviors,” Waterston said. “But at the end of the day, we forget that television isn’t supposed to be work. It’s supposed to be entertainment, and people are getting very frustrated with the cost of streaming services.”

With streamers such as Netflix continuing to raise monthly subscription fees, the relatively inexpensive cost of accessing FAST content — free, aside from the price of a smart TV and a high-speed internet connection — makes such services appealing to Black viewers, observers said.

“You can get many FAST channels and [streaming content] apps without having to have a cable subscription,” Douglas Holloway, a cable-industry veteran and longtime senior executive at NBCUniversal, said. “In this recessionary time, you can get a relatively inexpensive smart TV with, in most cases, hundreds of FAST channels already embedded in the operating system of those sets.”

Paramount senior VP, global streaming research and insights Christian Kurz also said Pluto TV’s lean-back viewing experience — synonymous with traditional linear TV — appeals to Black audiences. “What we’re seeing is that for the Black audience, the comfort and ease of watching television is more important than for everyone else,” he said. “You don’t need to register, you don’t need to pick any show and it’s very easy to navigate.”

Pluto TV and Tubi are the two FAST services Black viewers watch most, with use within the demographic overindexing against the general market, according to Horowitz’s survey. The two services succeed by effectively curating content targeted to Black audiences, Waterston said.

Kurz pointed to the programming offered by Paramount-owned Pluto TV, with channels featuring familiar and entertaining content such as classic Black-focused movies and TV shows and branded channels from such cable networks as BET, Bounce and Aspire TV.  

“We believe that our overall content mix is absolutely leaning into that familiar nature and into that easy viewing and positive content that Black audiences are looking for and craving,” Kurz said. “We are trying to engage with audiences of all forms, shapes and sizes, and this audience is certainly one that we’ve been working on.”  

Even as FAST services grow in popularity among Black audiences, there’s still a paucity of services targeted specifically to the demographic. FAST channels targeted to Black audiences make up just 2% of all such channels in the U.S. at a time when Blacks represent 14% of the U.S. population, according to Ebony TV, a FAST channel venture between Ebony Media Group and Lionsgate that launched this past October and is available on Fox Corp.-owned Tubi. 

Other independent Black-targeted entertainment brands, such as Revolt TV and TV One, are also featured on Tubi’s live FAST TV lineup. TV One’s move into the FAST space in 2023 with the launch of its Crime & Justice channel reaches the target audience where they are. 

“We have some franchises that are extremely popular with the TV One audience, and luckily, we’re now at a point where we can make that available to people who are outside the pay ecosystem without cannibalizing the [linear] business,” Rori Peters, senior VP of content distribution & marketing at TV One & Cleo TV, said. 

Shelf-Space Worries 

As media companies turn to FAST channels to generate additional streaming revenue from their existing linear networks and shows, Horowitz’s Waterston is concerned that bandwidth issues will eventually shut independent, multicultural content out of the platform. 

“I think the strategy that media brands are using to try to use FAST to drive engagement with their premium services is a smart one because then at least you’re keeping the viewers in your ecosystem,” Waterston said. “What remains to be seen is whether the FAST space will have room for independent, new emerging media companies trying to make a name for themselves and build an audience, or whether they’re going to get edged out by the big media conglomerates that have discovered this space.”

Another looming issue in the development of diverse FAST channels is access to bandwidth. Former NBCU executive Holloway runs a pair of ad-supported streamers in UKW Media and Urbn-TV.  

“Ultimately it comes down to bandwidth allocation and the cost of developing a FAST channel, which is fairly expensive,” Holloway said. 

While Pluto’s Kurz acknowledges that there is an “upper limit” of live, linear content that the distributor is keeping an eye on, it is still being aggressive in launching content that will bring in a broad cross-section of viewers.

“We’re always on the lookout for the right opportunities to broaden the appeal of the overall service,” he said. “It’s not just all content, but it’s about content that we also think is going to work for our viewers.” 

As Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month comes to a close, a new Horowitz Research study shows that streaming services are in position to take advantage of the growing appeal of content targeted to Asian TV viewers.  

Nearly six out of every 10 hours of viewing time among Asian Tv content viewers are spent watching streaming services, according to Horowitz’s Focus Asian Volume 2: Viewing Behaviors study. Overall, 69% of Asian viewers subscribe to at least one SVOD, with Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney Plus among the most popular services Asian viewers are also subscribing to Asian-targeted SVOD services such as Zee5, Voot, Rakuten Viki and OnDemandKorea.

Also, seven in 10 Asian TV content viewers are watching free streaming services, and 45% of viewers are viewing free, ad-supported streaming TV services (FAST) such as Tubi, Pluto TV and Samsung TV Plus, according to the survey. 

The report, conducted in April among 500 Asian TV content viewers, also stated that Asian-language content is very important to the Asian TV content viewers, with six in 10 watching Asian-language content at least occasionally, In addition, two in three Asian-language dominant/bilingual consumers reported that Asian-language content is important to them. 

“Clearly, there’s been an explosion of interest in Asian content – driven not only by Asian audiences but audiences in general,” Horowitz Research Insights & Strategy Lead and executive VP Adriana Waterston said. “As media companies continue to lean into the Asian content opportunity, we anticipate that this will lead to even more varied and diverse stories that represent the entirety of Asian experiences, cultures and communities globally and in the U.S.” 

A majority of Latinx TV viewers are accessing subscription video-on-demand services and are watching Spanish-language TV content at least occasionally, according to a new Horowitz Research study. 

The FOCUS Latinx Volume 1: Subscriptions survey of 643 Latinx TV content viewers over 18 conducted in January and February reported that 76% of respondents subscribe to at least one SVOD service, compared to 67% among consumers overall. That number shoots to more than 80% when considering password-sharing and promotional bundles from popular services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney Plus, Peacock and HBO Max, according to the survey.

Also, 76% of Latinx TV viewers watch free streaming services compared to just 14% in 2019. FAST services such as YouTube, Tubi, Pluto TV, Roku and Freevee account for a majority of free streaming service viewing, according to the survey.

Spanish-language content remains a major viewing choice for Latinx TV viewers, with 72% watching Spanish-language content at least occasionally, and 6 in 10 viewers watching international content, according to the survey. In addition, 6 in 10 viewers surveyed said Spanish-language TV content along with content geared toward Hispanic audiences is important for their household to have. 

Also: FAST Services Taking Hold in Black Households: Horowitz Research 

“There’s no question that Latinx audiences are among the best customers for streaming services and that Spanish-language and Latinx-themed content is in demand,” Horowitz Research chief revenue officer and insights and strategy lead Adriana Waterston said. “But services that stream exclusively in Spanish need to compete with the existential threat of an ever-increasing number of mainstream services beefing up their Spanish-language and international libraries as well as offering Spanish audio and/or subtitles for most of their content. Consumer marketing to keep Spanish-language services top-of-mind, combined with strategies to drive discovery tune-in will be critical for them to survive and thrive.” 

Black viewers are viewing free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) and subscription video-on-demand services in numbers well above the overall consumer average, according to a new Horowitz Research study.

More than 80% of Blacks have used a free OTT service over the past month, up from 13% from 2019 and compared to 69% for consumers overall, according to the Horowitz Focus Black Volume 1: Subscriptions survey. FAST channels are helping to drive consumption, with 45% of Black TV content viewers using services such as Pluto TV and Tubi TV at least once in the past month, compared to 35% of total market consumers.

Also, seven in 10 Black viewers subscribe to at least one SVOD service, led by Netflix and Prime Video, according to the survey. Further, 60% of Black viewers surveyed say that the showcasing of Black-focused content is important to the adoption and usage of streaming services, with such Black-targeted SVOD services as BET Plus, Black World Cinema, Zeus and ALLBLK leading the charge, according to the survey. 

In addition, two in three Black subscribers to MVPD or vMVPD services give favorable ratings to their provider’s selection of channels geared towards Black audiences, Horowitz said. 

The survey of 643 Black TV content viewers 18 years and older was conducted in January and February of 2023, Horowitz said.

“This is an audience hungry for content, which drives higher consumption across a wide variety of platforms and services,” Horowitz Research chief revenue officer and insights & strategy lead Adriana Waterston said. “This is an audience hungry for content, which drives higher consumption across a wide variety of platforms and services. In today’s fragmented media ecosystem, offering a broad array of content that represents the diversity of Black experiences, lifestyles, cultures and communities is an important way for media companies to super-serve this important audience and keep them engaged.” 

After years of steady declines, cord-cutting by subscribers to MVPDs may finally be flattening while viewing on free streaming services is on the rise, according to a new study from Horowitz Research.

More than half (52%) of the 2,200 adults surveyed in Horowitz’s State of Media, Entertainment and Tech: Subscriptions 2023 study said they subscribe to multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs), matching last year’s survey percentage. Further, 80% of MVPD subscribers rate their satisfaction with their pay TV provider at 80%, slightly up from last year, according to the researcher. 

Also, 32% of cord-cutters say that they might return to cable if the cost of streaming services continue to increase. Consumers report spending more than $50 per month on subscription streaming services, with only 33% of cord-cutters reporting that they were saving “a really good amount” compared to the traditional MVPD bundle. Increasingly consumers are looking for managed services to help control costs, according to Horowitz. 

“Managed services — in which subscribers can see and manage all their streaming content in one place — would be an antidote to the challenges inherent to today’s highly fragmented streaming space, and consumers seem open to consolidating their services together,” Horowitz Research chief revenue officer and insights & strategy lead Adriana Waterston said. “It’s a matter of which companies will compete to be the managed services solution from the streaming age, between traditional MVPD’s and tech companies like Amazon, Samsung, Roku and Apple.” 

Meanwhile, consumers are spending more time accessing free ad-supported streaming TV [FAST] services. Nearly 70% of viewers use free streaming services like Pluto TV, Tubi, Peacock and YouTube at least monthly, up from 42% in 2019, according to the survey. 

“The adoption of AVOD/FAST services — and the concomitant increase in streaming ad revenue we can expect to see — will help offset revenue loss on the linear side, which is critical as programming costs continue to skyrocket,” Waterston said.

The survey was conducted in January and February of 2023, Horowitz said.

Gen Z viewers split their viewing time evenly between long-form and short-form content, with the older portion of of the demo spending more time watching traditional TV programming, according to a new study by Horowitz Research.  

The Focus Generation Next survey of 800 Gen Zers 13-24 years of age reports that while the group as a whole splits viewing time rather evenly between professional TV content from networks and streaming services and non-TV content such as user-generated videos, there are different viewing patterns within the demo. 

The report found that 18-24 year olds spend more than half of their viewing time (52%) watching content from networks and streamers such as Netflix and Disney Plus compared to 47% of 13-17 year olds, who spend more of their time viewing non-TV content. 

Older Gen Zers are more likely to watch content from a wider variety of platforms – including subscription streaming services and virtual MVPDs like Hulu TV and Sling TV – than younger Gen Zers, who are more dependent on their parents to access cable or streaming services, said the survey. 

Overall, Netflix, Disney Plus and Hulu are the most watched services for Gen Z viewers, according to the survey.

While short-form video is the preferred choice for younger Gen Zers now, as they grow older they will most likely gravitate to traditional TV content for their viewing choices, according to Horowitz. 

“We are often asked how media brands can engage with Gen Zers who seem to be so immersed in short-form content. I like to remind them that this generation is not the first cohort of young people to be engaged in short-form content,” said Horowitz Research chief revenue officer and insights and strategy lead Adriana Waterston. “Engagement with short form does not totally cannibalize long-form viewing. Young people today are still watching professionally produced TV content, just less of it compared even to older audiences within their generational cohort. As younger people’s lifestyles change as they enter new life stages and as they develop different interests, deeper engagement with long-form content across a range of genres will follow.” ■

Streaming now commands two-thirds of video viewing time, with only one hour in three spent watching traditional video platforms like broadcast and cable, and Netflix still rules the OTT roost.

That is according to Horowitz Research.

Horowitz found that streamers use an average of 7.1 services, the majority of which are subscription (4.3) or 2.8 free, to stream full-length TV content (rather than YouTube or TikTok videos) in any given month.

Netflix gets the largest share of viewing with 22% of streaming, but that is down steeply from the 39% share it commanded before the competition heated up and the audience started fragmenting among a host of services.

The Horowitz study found that a majority of streamers (two-thirds) want universal search across competing services and would like to be able to manage their streaming subscriptions in one place. Almost as many would like to see streaming services merge to help that happen, the study found.

Other wants include access to content beyond TV and movies, the ability to shop for products they see in shows using their remote or phone and the means to socialize with friends and family virtually while watching content together.

The May survey was among 2,200 adults. ■

As the TV industry celebrates Black History Month, African-American viewers say they‘re seeing more of themselves and their stories on the small screen but want to see even more inclusive content that reflects their experiences.  

Today, there are nearly 50 scripted series on broadcast, cable and streaming services that feature Black leads or predominantly Black casts. While that’s a drop in the bucket compared to the 559 scripted TV shows offered in 2021, according to FX research, industry observers say it‘s certainly an improvement over what was on television a decade ago.

While several iconic and popular shows will leave the air this year (ABC’s Black-ish, OWN’s Queen Sugar, TNT’s Claws and Showtime’s Black Monday), there are plenty of new shows aiming to fill the gap (Amazon Prime Video’s Harlem, ABC's Queens, Starz’s Run The World and ABC’s The Wonder Years). Also on tap is the much-anticipated March return of FX’s original comedy series Atlanta, starring Emmy-winner Donald Glover.

Also: Black History Month: What to Watch (February 1-14)

Black viewers are noticing the increase in content. According to Horowitz‘s recent FOCUS: Black: Consumer Engagement report, 55% of viewers said that they are seeing more Black actors as lead characters in scripted TV shows. More importantly for distributors, two in three Black viewers say that seeing Black characters and communities portrayed in positive ways positively impacts their decision to watch a show or a movie, according to the report.

While the report shows that viewers are reacting positively to the increase in Black images currently on-screen, Horowitz Research chief revenue officer and insights and strategy lead Adriana Waterston said there’s a desire to see even more diversity and inclusion within those characters and storylines. Indeed, Horowitz reported that 66% of Black TV viewers wanted to see more TV shows and movies that showcase the diversity of the Black experience here in the U.S. 

“This is an audience that in itself is incredibly diverse in a lot of ways, including cultural diversity, religious diversity and lifestyle diversity,” Waterston said. “There are so many differences that can be celebrated, and consumers are now saying that it’s not just enough for the representation of Black audiences to be good in numbers and quality. They are saying, ‘I want to really see myself represented,’ and that requires a level of understanding of the audience and a level of nuance.” 

Shows like Netflix‘s French-produced series Lupin, about a Senegal-born man looking to avenge his father’s death in Paris, and CBS‘s Bob Hearts Abishola — which takes a comedic look at immigrant life in America — have begun to help shine a light on diversity within the African-American community. 

“Current statistics and research substantiate that the U.S. Black population is not monolithic,” said One Caribbean Television president of sales and marketing Mark Walton. “At a time when Black-themed content is in demand, telling the stories of Black immigrants, primarily from Africa and the Caribbean, and their descendants, undoubtedly provides an opportunity to attract millions of viewers, many of whom rarely see themselves reflected in the narrative of being Black in America.”  

Waterston added: “The awakening to the dangers of stereotypical representations that was so damaging for so long has made people become more sensitive to on-screen portrayals. The next phase is not only being sensitive but being inclusive.” ■

Seeing Black characters and communities portrayed in a positive way and having Black actors in lead roles positively impacts Black consumers’ decision to watch a show or movie, according to a survey by Horowitz Research, but only 54% said they are seeing more Black actors as lead characters in scripted content and only 51% believe they are seeing more Black characters and community portrayed in positive ways.

In news coverage, only 46% of Black Americans said they’ve seen an improvement of how they are portrayed, with 44% seeing no improvement.

Also: Black Viewers Join Streaming Exodus

When it comes to advertising, 56% said they are seeing more ads that feature diverse people, lifestyle and cultures. That’s important because 66% of Black Americans say they are more compelled to buy from companies that run those types of inclusive ads.

The results come just before the start of Black History Month in February.

“Brands really need to be making sustained, meaningful efforts to resonate with the Black audience year-round, not just one month out of the year,” said Adriana Waterston, chief revenue officer and insights and strategy leader at Horowitz Research. ■ 

Fuse Media is hoping its Fuse Plus streaming service will connect with a growing audience of young Latino viewers who are consuming video on the digital platforms. 

The Fuse Plus SVOD service, which launched in September and offers more than 500 hours of original and acquired content, looks to appeal to Latino viewers who are voracious consumers of streaming content. Approximately 80% of Latino TV content viewers subscribe to at least one SVOD service, with Latino viewers paying for an average of four streaming services, according to a 2021 Horowitz Research survey. 

Further, half of Latino households subscribe to both a traditional MVPD and at least one streaming service, according to the survey.

Among the shows streaming on Fuse Plus are reality series Shine True, a new season of Made From Scratch and new original series Sex Sells, which focuses on sex-focused businesses from a female perspective. Debuting in December on the service is original talk/documentary series Don't Cancel Me With Amara La Negra, part of a content deal made with musician and activist Amara La Negra. 

Fuse Media CEO Miguel Roggero recently talked to Multichannel News about Fuse’s strategy in reaching underserved young Latino viewers across multiple platforms. An edited version of the interview appears below. 

Also: Hispanic TV Power Players to be Honored at Summit 

Picture This: Why is it important for Fuse to offer services that reach young, Latino viewers on the digital platform?

Miguel Roggero: It really comes down to the original mission of Fuse, which is to put underrepresented people on TV. We started off first with Latinos and then we obviously evolved our lens to be a little bit more inclusive. We focus on showcasing stories from all people of color. The goal is no different with Fuse Plus, which is just another vehicle for that audience to see themselves. We look at it as another extension of the Fuse brand and then another way for us to reach our audience. What we do know is that viewing habits have changed a lot and there’s a lot more fragmentation. We're still big believers in linear TV, and I don't think that’s going to go away. We look at Fuse Plus as just another way of providing another option for our viewers. They can watch us on linear, or if they choose, they can watch us digitally on Fuse Plus or one of our FAST Channels we launched this year [music themed Fuse Backstage, Black lifestyle-themed Fuse Beat, and home fitness-themed Fuse Sweat]. It’s really kind of a complimentary extension of the fuse brand.

PT: Are Latinos underserved on the digital platform?

MR: Absolutely. I think the reason why we exist is that there's a serious white space out there and it shouldn't exist. Media today still does a terrible job of showcasing people of color. I thought it was changing, but to me it’s shocking that we haven't really moved the needle as far as it needs to go. That's why [Fuse Plus] is really important to us -- to make sure that this brand, what we stand for and the representation that we bring to this audience is available everywhere. Fuse Plus allows us to continue to move forward toward that mission.

PT: Are you confident that young people of color will be willing to pay to see themselves represented on screen?

MR: I think time will tell -- I don't have the answer yet. We’re trying to make our services as compelling as possible, so we try to reduce the barriers financially so that money is not an issue for people. We're very competitively priced at $1.99 per month or $20 per year. We also try to make this as frictionless as possible for all our partners, so if you’re a Dish subscriber or a Charter subscriber and you get Fuse, you're also going to get Fuse Plus -- it’s all part of your package. Our goal is to make our service ubiquitous and offer it in the manner that our viewers want to see it. Some of them want to see it on linear and some of them want to see it on digital. We want to make sure we are everywhere.

PT: Will you offer different and exclusive content on Fuse Plus that is not available on Fuse?

MR: It’s going to be similar, if not the same. That’s by design because we’re not trying to favor one service over the other -- it’s about extending the Fuse brand and making it available to everybody, however they want to see it. Any new shows that show up on the linear channel are going to show up on Fuse Plus day and date. It’s not about favoring one service over another, but making it possible for our viewers to consume the way they want to consume.

Also: Next TV Summit to Feature Redbox, Fox Weather Keynote Chats

PT: Do you see any competitors for Fuse Plus in the marketplace?

MR: I think different services are going after certain niche audiences, and then there are the larger players going for the mass market with general entertainment programming, which offers a little crossover of the audiences. But I don’t see any services that are going after our multicultural, unified and inclusive approach. There are services that do focus on Spanish language programming and there are services that focus primarily on showcasing Black movies, but there is no one that’s going after this white space that we’re going after, and I’m really surprised by that. ■

The Black TV audience, once reliable cable and satellite subscribers, are increasingly cutting the cord in a world of proliferating streaming options.

A new Horowitz Research study found that multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) penetration among Black households has declined about 30% in just the past four years, from 88% in 2017 to only 61% in 2021.

The study found that 60% of Black audiences watch content specifically geared to them at least weekly, suggesting that there is an opportunity for streamers that can provide content that “reflects contemporary Black perspectives and culture,“ combined with ”robust on-demand offerings.“

The study found that four in 10 Black consumers rely on a combination of streaming services, digital antennas for over-the-air broadcast (the study found that Black audiences still value local broadcast news, for example), and and/or virtual vMVPDs for video content, with only one in four relying on MVPD service and no streaming.

But Horowitz said video providers — traditional and over-the-top — have work to do to court that audience, work that goes beyond just building it and expecting them to come.

“Many companies are late to the game, only now focusing on the Black audience in the context of BLM [Black Lives Matter] and new diversity mandates,“ Horowitz chief revenue officer Adriana Waterston said. “To not be viewed as simply pandering, companies who hope to serve the Black audience must make meaningful and sustained investments, not just in programming and marketing, but in community outreach and support, in order to earn this valuable audience’s trust.“

In recent years, awards shows—including the Grammys, Golden Globes, and Oscars—have come under fire for their lack of diversity in nominations, attendance, and performances. Even with efforts to diversify, change has been slow to manifest.

Though last Sunday’s Grammy Awards featured Beyoncé breaking the record for the most Grammys ever, Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B putting on a captivating performance, and Korean K-Pop sensation BTS wowing the world with a performance straight from Seoul, when it came to the Record of the Year and Album of the Year, it wasn’t any of them taking home the prize—it was Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift, respectively. And Beyoncé, for her staggering 28 Grammys and huge cultural influence, has never won Album of the Year. This troubling trend of artists of color being called on to entertain and influence, yet rarely winning top accolades is indicative of a larger “othering” of non-White cultures—even as those artists drive cultural shifts and embody what it means to be American.

With the Grammys behind us, eyes are turning to the 2021 Oscars to see how the Academy is responding to continued calls for diversity—and there are some signs of progress.

Five years after the social justice campaign #OscarsSoWhite, the list of 2021 nominees, for the first time, includes two men of Asian descent up for Best Actor—Riz Ahmed (Pakistani) and Steven Yeun (Korean) for their roles in Sound of Metal and Minari, respectively. (In fact, for the first time, the Best Actor category is not majority White.) Behind the screen, Chloe Zhao is the first Asian woman—and the first woman of color—to be nominated for Best Director.

Importantly, the stories that Ahmed, Yeun, and Zhao helped to tell are not necessarily “Asian” stories. Sound of Metal is the story of a metal drummer as he begins to lose his hearing; Nomadland is about a woman who, after her husband passes away, decides to travel the country in a van. Minari, while about a Korean immigrant family, is a story that, at its core, is about making a home in America and what it really means to be a family—themes that resonate across cultural lines.

The “Otherness” of Non-White Stories

Yet, when non-White stories or even stories featuring non-White characters are told they are often viewed as niche stories. Yeun, despite his meteoric rise as fan-favorite Glenn Rhee in The Walking Dead, has largely been consigned to supporting roles for English movies. Yeun’s leading roles—in Lee Chang-dong’s Burning and Bong Joon-ho’s Okja—have been in Korean.

The “otherness” of non-White stories is further exemplified by Minari not qualifying to be entered into the Golden Globes’ Best Motion Picture category. Due to not being at least 50% in English, Minari, a quintessential story about the American Dream, taking place in America, written by an American, and starring an American, only qualified for—and won—Best Foreign Language Film. That sort of thinking, those sorts of rules, continue to promote this “perpetual otherness” that Asians face. These rules perpetuate a systematic problem where those making the rules either consciously or unconsciously put up barriers for Black, Hispanic, and Asian success in the media.

Worse yet, when Asians are on screen, they are often relegated to supporting roles and stereotypical portrayals. Asian women—East Asian women, in particular—are frequently portrayed as “China dolls”: mysterious, submissive, objectified, and hypersexualized. Asian men, on the other hand, are on the opposite side of the spectrum: emasculated, nerdy, and reserved (the specific genre of kung fu movies a notable exception). Throughout 2020, usage of the “China Virus” and “Kung Flu” as terms for COVID-19 have been propagated by those in the highest echelons of American media, news, and politics. The impact of this phraseology, of these stereotypes, are not without consequence.

Asian Stereotypes in the Media Fuel Anti-Asian Xenophobia

As hate crimes continue to rise against Asian Americans, the importance of Asian representation in the media is greater than ever before. Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition formed in 2020 in response to rapidly escalating reports of xenophobia and racially-motivated incidents, reported nearly 3,800 instances of discrimination against Asians over the past year—and these are only incidents specifically reported to the organization; the actual number is unquestionably higher. That report was issued on Tuesday, March 16th, the same day a white gunman murdered eight people in Atlanta massage parlors, six of whom were women of Asian descent. Although investigators are saying they are still trying to determine if the crime was racially motivated, the conflation of sexual temptation and Asian women is impossible to ignore.

Consciously or unconsciously, what we see on TV, in movies, in news coverage, plays an outsized role in how we perceive the world and people around us. According to Horowitz’s State of Viewing & Streaming 2020 report, 58% of TV content viewers feel the media plays a very big role in reinforcing stereotypes about diverse people and communities in America. That rises to 65% among Asians. Furthermore, two-thirds (65%) of Asian TV content viewers feel that it is important for the media to represent Asians in ways that bust stereotypes…yet 64% also feel that Asians are not represented enough.

The lack of representation in mainstream media has largely been the product of confluent forces. First, the overall lack of diversity in top programming and editorial roles impacts the lens through which stories are told. And second, there has been a desire to present narratives that conform to the perceived world views of a media company’s target audience in order to keep them tuning in. But we are starting to see change: In 2020, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences welcomed its most diverse roster of new members, achieving its goal of doubling the number of women and people of color by 2020 after the outcry over #OscarsSoWhite. And, in September 2020, the Academy also announced new representation and inclusion standards for its Best Picture category (to go into effect in 2024).

Seeing Ahmed, Yeun, and Zhao nominated for some of the highest accolades in media—along with signifies that we might finally be turning a corner. And hopefully, this is just the start— because when it comes to representation in the media, it has never been just about diversity for diversity’s sake. It’s about recognizing that the stories of all Americans are equally valid, authentic, and worth telling.)

Horowitz is a leading provider of quantitative and qualitative consumer research. Founded in 1985, we started with our roots in cable and have been at the forefront of the media industry ever since.

As the protests and unrest over the death of George Floyd continues to play out on television screens, a new report from Horowitz Research underscores a growing disconnect between young viewers and the traditional news media.

Viewers 18-34 years of age get 53% of their news consumption from the internet compared to 21% for traditional television, according to Horowitz’s State of Viewing & Streaming 2020 study.

Young people question whether broadcast networks and cable news services like Fox News, CNN and MSNBC are providing a complete picture of the stories that they cover, according to the survey. Only 33% of 18- to 34-year-olds surveyed believe that television is the best way to get in-depth news reporting and analysis, said Horowitz. In comparison, 56% of adults 25-54 and 64% of adults 35+ offer a more favorable view of traditional television news.

“Can the major broadcast and cable outlets rise to the challenge of providing truth and perspective and less sensationalism?,” said Howard Horowitz, president of Horowitz Research. “Just like social media has provided new ways of exposing discrimination and misconduct, so too has it given young people a new way to view and understand the world around them, providing validation of what is really happening and holding major news outlets more accountable.”

Horowitz also reported that 58% of TV content viewers believe that the media plays a very big role in reinforcing stereotypes, and 68% say that they feel it is important that the media represent diverse people and communities in the U.S. in ways that challenge and break stereotypes.

“Poignantly, we are hearing from staff, family members, and social media that young people feel that their parents and older family members, who rely heavily on TV news, are not getting a well-rounded picture of the protests and why they are happening,” said Horowitz senior VP of insights and strategy Adriana Waterston. “Showing looting and sensationalizing violence creates more fear and obscures the issues of police brutality and persistent systemic racism that these young people are seeing, experiencing, and feeling.”

Multicultural viewers are moving toward streaming services to find diverse images on television as they look to the media in general to shoot down lingering and hurtful stereotypes, according to a new Horowitz Research study.

The Horowitz State of Viewing & Streaming 2020 study reports that 55% of all viewers who view programming on streaming services and linear television say outlets such as Netflix, Hulu and Disney Plus do a better job of showcasing stories about and by people of color than broadcast and cable.

The shares increase among multicultural viewers: 58% of African-Americans, 61% of Hispanics and 64% of Asian-Americans say that streaming services are doing a better job of promoting diverse stories and images, according to the report.

Overall, the survey said 62% of viewers believe that representation of diverse segments of the population within the mainstream media has been improving, with both multicultural audiences and white audiences also pacing above the 60% range.

Horowitz senior VP of insights and strategy Adriana Waterston said the ability of the streaming services to offer much more content than traditional TV services, along with their ability to better market and promote content to multicultural audiences, gives their platforms a distinct advantage in reaching diverse viewer groups.

“Black, Asian and Hispanic consumers are heavy streamers, so they are finding more content that they resonate with through streaming services more than on traditional television,” Waterston said.

The Horowitz survey follows Nielsen’s 2019 Diverse Intelligence Series (DIS) Report, which showed that nearly 40% of African-American viewers subscribe to Netflix followed by Hulu at 15% and Amazon Prime Video at 14%. Cheryl Grace, Nielsen’s senior VP of U.S. strategic community alliances and consumer engagement, said streamers are just scratching the service on the amount of multicultural-themed programs they can offer.

“There’s still a ton of room to grow on the digital side,” Grace said. “It’s wonderful to have options and be able to turn on the TV and find people who look like me.”

But it’s not just the amount of content multicultural viewers are looking for from streaming services and traditional television outlets. Viewers are also looking for programmers to help dispel stereotypes about multicultural populations.

Nearly 70% of viewers said it’s important for the media to represent diverse people and communities in America in ways that bust stereotypes, according to Horowitz. Further, 57% of non-Hispanic white viewers agree that the media plays a very big role in reinforcing stereotypes, according to the survey.

“We’ve heard from multicultural viewers that it’s not just the amount of faces, but it’s also about how they are represented, from how they are portrayed in the news to what roles they play in shows,” Waterston said. “What’s interesting is that we’re seeing a growing awareness of the issue from white, non-Hispanic audiences who are saying that the story doesn’t have to have characters that look like me to be entertaining to me.” 

Two recent Tv industry surveys show that viewers are not satisfied with the portrayals of diverse characters on the small screen, even as the number of such characters continues to increase.

According to a new Horowitz Research Focus Tv and Video Content report, 36% of Hispanics, 49% of Blacks and 34% of Asians reported that they often felt “personally offended” by the way that people of color are portrayed in Tv and in movies.

It’s not just minority groups that are complaining. When asked about minority images onscreen, 26% of whites said they feel personally offended by media portrayals of people of color. Further, 41% of 18-34 year old whites say they are offended by portrayals of Blacks, Asians and Latinos on Tv -- a higher percentage than that of Hispanic and African-American viewers in the demo, said Horowitz.

The most plentiful and accurate portrayals of people of color come from premium services such as HBO, Showtime and Starz as well as streaming services Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime. Nearly 65% of Asian, Hispanic and Black viewers say content from those services is more reflective of America’s diversity than shows on the broadcast and cable networks, according to the survey.

The findings come as an increase of diverse characters are hitting the small screen. People of color represented 47% of all series regular characters on primetime broadcast television during the 2018-19 television season -- an increase of three percentage points over the previous year, according to the annual GLAAD Where We Are On TV report.

The LGBTQ advocacy group also reported that a record 10.2% of all primetime series regular characters on broadcast networks ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and the CW were counted as LGBTQ. Along with the 90 regular series characters counted as LGBTQ, an additional 30 recurring characters were LGBTQ.

The number of LGBTQ regular and recurring characters on scripted primetime cable programs increased slightly to 215, while 153 new and recurring characters appeared on scripted series from streaming services Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix, an increase of 41 characters overall from the previous year’s total of 112, according to the report.

Broadcasters, streamers, and cable networks are making inroads with regards to portraying people from all ethnic backgrounds and sexual orientations. Viewers are now asking that those portrayals and images be more reflective of their experiences.

Video streaming service Netflix is the top choice for viewers when it comes to  offering appealing content, according to a new Horowitz Research study. 

Viewers over the age of 18 participating in Horowitz’s Focus TV & Video Content 2019 report say that Netflix’s original and non-original programming rank above the broadcast networks and premium cable services HBO and Showtime in doing a good job of offering content that appeals to them. Netflix especially resonates with younger viewers: more than 70% of viewers 18-34 choosing Netflix originals as the most appealing content to them, according to the report

Netflix is also perceived high among African-American, Hispanic and Asian-American viewers in offering content that appeals to those groups, while white viewers chose Netflix fourth behind broadcast networks Fox, ABC and CBS in overall content appeal, according to the report. 

Netflix has also built up strong brand equity among viewers. More than 60% of viewers reported that they feel they know Netflix "as a close friend" or "someone I am friendly with," mainly due to its mix of original content and syndicated content. For Hispanics and African-American viewers, those numbers jump to 79% and 70% respectively, due to the service’s strong offering of content geared toward those audiences, according to the researcher.

Horowitz says that those numbers may shift as new video streaming entrants like HBO Max and Peacock come into the marketplace, and Netflix’s distribution deals for shows like The Office and Friends expire. 

It seems the industry is inundated with study after study that implies a battle of good versus evil has developed between traditional linear cable viewers and young, cost conscious cord-cutters and cord-nevers.

There’s no denying that fewer viewers are subscribing to cable packages -- the U.S. pay TV industry just had its worst-ever Q1, losing 762,000 video subs during the first quarter, according to research company MoffettNathanson -- and that viewers are streaming more than ever. A recent Horowitz Research "State of Pay TV, OTT and SVOD 2017" report said seven out of every 10 TV viewers stream at least some of their content through digital subscription video-on-demand services.

Nonetheless, viewers' growing penchant for streaming content doesn’t necessarily equate to a full-blown rejection of the traditional cable bundle. Rather, Horowitz Research senior vice president of insights and strategy Adriana Waterston said, services such as Netflix and Hulu are giving viewers a more seamless and user-friendly way to view programming.

A majority of viewers still want access to the live news and sports programming that the traditional cable bundle provides, along with the binge viewing-friendly digital services: 57% of consumers have both an SVOD service and a pay TV subscription, according to Horowitz’s report, which was presented during the Annual Cultural Insights Forum June 6 in New York.

Waterston pointed to growing interest in new virtual MVPDs such as Sling TV, DirecTV Now and YouTube TV that offer consumers the best of both worlds – bundles of live TV channels at various price points that can be accessed on mobile phones, tablets and computers, as well as the big screen TV.

Three in 10 TV viewers – and 40% of millennials -- would consider subscribing to one of the new vMVPDs, according to the Horowitz report.

“A new narrative is emerging – one that doesn’t pit people who are willing to pay for pay TV against those who cord-cut,” Waterston said. “The new narrative is about those who choose to stay with a traditional provider against those who might choose to go with a new provider offering comparable services in a new way. They all want the perks of traditional providers, but on their own terms.”

Young multicultural viewers are still subscribing to and watching traditional television as both broadcast and cable networks have offered shows like Black-ish, Empire and Fresh Off the Boat that reflect their images and experiences.

But that hasn’t stopped them from increasing their consumption of OTT streaming services like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, according to a report presented Wednesday (March 9) during the 16th annual Horowitz Associates Cultural Insights Forum.

Urban content viewers -- defined as multicultural viewers watching TV content in heavily populated markets -- in general watch 51% of their weekly TV viewing live, while streaming represents 30% of their TV viewing, according to Horowitz’s Multicultural Matters audience report. Black viewers (58%) are the biggest consumers of live programming, ahead of Spanish-language dominant Hispanic (53%), Asian (48%) and white viewers (47%).

But for urban millennials the reverse is true, with 51% of 18-34 year olds’ weekly viewing coming from streaming services like Hulu and Netflix.

Further, Netflix serves as the first “go to” service for 39% of millennials compared with just 22% of millennials who say live TV is their first choice.

“The OTT experience is like multichannel viewing on steroids – more content than you could possibly want on a wider variety of platforms on a bunch of different devices on a number of screens,” said Adriana Waterston, senior vice president of Insights and strategy for Horowitz Research.

Coinciding with the increase in streaming viewership is a 10% increase in OTT subscriptions among urban viewers, according to the report.

Still, 75% of urban/multicultural millennials subscribe to both pay TV and OTT/SVOD services. Further, only 17% of those viewers are very likely to cancel their pay TV subscriptions over the next six months, which industry observers say gives traditional television providers an opportunity to retain multicultural viewers by offering content that appeals to them when they want to see it.

Providing easy access to more robust TV Everywhere offerings from traditional cable networks while finding a home for new and unique multicultural-themed content -- as well as more precise measurement of multiplatform use by urban viewers -- will go along way in securing loyal multcultural subscribers as they get older.

“The traditional business model has been disrupted … you can’t ignore that fact,” said Waterston. “But that doesn’t mean that viewers are watching less television, but rather they’re watching in different and possibly not adequately measured ways.”

Industry observers have blamed over-the-top streaming services for contributing to what is now a cornucopia of quality programming for which there’s not enough hours in the day to watch.

But when it comes to watching everything available on the small screen, viewers are giving it their best shot, according to a Horowitz Research study.

A third of over-the-top viewers say that they are watching more TV overall than they did five years ago, according to Horowitz’s recent Multiplatform Content and Services, Wave 2 2015 survey.

Services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime are fast becoming the first choice for viewers when they turn on the boob tube. One-third (31%) of viewers surveyed say they turn to Netflix when they first turn on the TV, slightly below the 34% who say live TV feeds from cable and broadcast networks are their first choice.

OTT services are the first platform of choice for more than half of 18-to-34-year-olds, further showing that streaming content from OTT services continues to dominate millenials’ viewing habits.

And the OTT services are giving viewers a lot of new original content to stream. Netflix will add new series such as Fuller House, a reboot of 1990s sitcom Full House; the Judd Apatow comedy Love; a new Marvel-themed series, Luke Cage; and hip-hop themed drama The Get Down later this year to its core shows, including Orange Is the New Black, the fourth season of which will debut in June. Netflix has also renewed women’s jailhouse dramedy Orange for three additional seasons.

Hulu this year will roll out the big Stephen King miniseries 11-22-63, about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy; The Path, a project from Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad’s Jesse Pinkman); and new dramas starring Hugh Laurie and Jeffrey Donovan.

Amazon, coming off consecutive Golden Globe Award wins for comedy series Transparent andMozart in the Jungle, will bring back sophomore shows Bosch and Catastrophe this spring.

Given the myriad quality programming choices available to viewers, it’s not hard to foresee a continual increase of overall TV viewing — and, arguably, a decrease in time spent sleeping.