The Network Brown-Out

By Alicia Rebensdorf, AlterNet. Posted July 18, 2001.

It was on January 1st, 1954, at the Pasadena Rose parade. After years of televisions flickering in a range of gray, a Technicolor TV broadcast in color for the first time. Gone were the monochromatic images that were not true to the world they portrayed. Instead, those parade watchers saw the roses in full rainbow and the costumes in a range of colors. All the tints and hues reflected just like the real world. It's been more than 47 years since that first color television. Color TV's now exist in 99 percent of American homes. But look at today's TV's more closely, and it seems they are still airing in black and white. Compare it to the colors in the real world, and you'll see they've left out the brown.

When the latest U.S. Census released its figures, there was great media coverage on the boom in the Latino population. At over 35 million strong, Latinos now make up over 12.5 percent of the American population. But with the exception of a couple of bar graphs and political voting analyses, that's where the media ended. American media may cover Latinos, but it rarely includes them.

A recent report by advocacy group Children Now showed that, despite making up over 12.5 percent of the general populous, only 2 percent of characters in prime time television are Latino. Compare this with the statistics on America's other racial minorities -- African-Americans at 12.3 percent of the population and 17 percent of primetime characters and Asian Americans at 3.6 percent of the population and 3 percent of characters -- and Latino representation is glaringly absent. Out of prime time's 2,251 actors, only 47 are Latino and of those 3 dozen actors, most play minor roles or non-Latino characters. When not counting Latino actors playing gringos, like The West Wing's Martin Sheen (nee Ramon Estévez), that 2 percent is even smaller.

The reasons given for this brownout are dubious at best. When questioned on the dearth of Latino representation, the major networks most popular response is that they are, in the words of CBS Senior vice president Josie Thomas, "working on it." After the fall schedules were unveiled in May, Thomas justified the white wash by saying: "There are opportunities for guest stars, recurring roles are still open. This isn't the end of the story."

When a multi-ethnic coalition graded ABC a 'D-minus' on their effort to increase the number of minorities, ABC spokesman Zenia Munch reiterated CBS's reasons, "We anticipate that characters in (this fall's) programs will be recast prior to the beginning of the season, There will be improvement and additional changes in the diversity of the cast."

Networks also use the fact that 35 percent of the Latino audience watches the Spanish-speaking stations Telemundo and Univision. They pass off responsibility for Latino representation by pointing to the language barrier, though some advocates say Spanish is not the language in question. Money talks, and the perception that recent Latino immigrants are also lower-income keeps many television executives and advertisers from listening to those with a Spanish accent.

Of course, efforts to prioritize diversity in American media should be about more than money. But even if it were solely about markets, by ignoring the Latino audience, networks are also ignoring a large consumer base. Not only do Latino households watch an average of 4 hours more television a week than non-Latino households, but more than half of the Hispanic population is in the network's coveted under 25 range. According to respected research firm Teenage Research Unlimited, Latino youth also continually outspend their white counterparts from higher-income brackets.

And what about the other 90 percent of the American television-watching public? The Cosby show was watched by more than just African Americans. The Nielson ratings don't dip when ER's black characters speak. Look at other popular culture, and the networks' skepticism about Latinos' cross-over potential is groundless.

Mainstream prime time may give a cold shoulder to Latino characters, but other outlets realize that Latin culture is hot. With Ricky Martin recently crowned the number one dance artist by VH1, Christine Aguilera topping the charts and Jennifer Lopez lounging half-clad on magazine covers across the country, it's evident Latinos aren't an American turn-off.

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