TOKENS ON THE SMALL SCREEN:
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders on Prime Time and Streaming Television
New Study on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders on Prime Time and Streaming Television to be Released September 12, 2017.
A new study, “Tokens on the Small Screen,” reports on the underrepresentation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) on prime time television and streaming television. It is the most comprehensive report on this topic to date. The Report concludes that while AAPI actors have increasing opportunities today, they are still underrepresented on television and their characters remain marginalized and tokenized on screen.
Professors and scholars from six California universities authored this ten-year follow up and expansion of their 2005 and2006 studies of AAPIs in prime time television. In their new study, they evaluate broadcast, cable, and streaming television scripted shows airing between September 1, 2015 and August 31, 2016. The authors report on how AAPI series regulars fare in numbers, settings, screen time, relationships, stereotypes, and storylines.
Essential findings of the Report include:
TV So White. Whites dominate the television landscape, comprising nearly 70% of television series regulars compared to 4% of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Pacific Islanders make up only 0.2% of series regulars, which is half of their U.S. population.
Missing. Over 64% of all shows DO NOT feature a single AAPI series regular. In contrast, 96% of TV shows have at least one White series regular. Furthermore, the majority of shows set in AAPI-dense cities including New York and Los Angeles have no AAPI series regulars.
Isolated. Intimate relationships add to a character’s complexity and draw an audience into that character’s development throughout the episode and series. Three times as many White series regulars have romantic and/or familial relationships as AAPIs, heightening their isolation.
Low Visibility. AAPI series regulars are eclipsed by their White counterparts, who are on screen over 3 times longer. A whopping 87% of AAPI series regulars appear on-screen for less than half the total show time, while 17% have the LOWEST screen times on their respective shows.
Tokens. More than two-thirds of TV shows featuring AAPI series regulars have ONLY ONE. As Aziz Ansari’s character ‘Dev Shah’ astutely observes in Master of None, “There can be one, but there can’t be two.” This indicates the tokenization of AAPIs, included to satisfy minimal diversity but without true commitment to accurately portraying varied AAPI experiences.
Segregated & Endangered. AAPIs are segregated onto just a handful of shows. A full 10% of AAPI series regulars appear on just one show: Marco Polo (Netflix), which has been cancelled. Over one-third of all Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders appear on just eleven shows. More than half of those shows have been cancelled or not renewed, cutting AAPI representation by 21%.
Representation. While many shows perpetuate racial stereotypes, exemplary shows such as The Night Of, Master of None, The Walking Dead, and Fresh Off the Boat portray multifaceted AAPIs.
A new study, “Tokens on the Small Screen,” reports on the underrepresentation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) on prime time television and streaming television. It is the most comprehensive report on this topic to date. The Report concludes that while AAPI actors have increasing opportunities today, they are still underrepresented on television and their characters remain marginalized and tokenized on screen.
Professors and scholars from six California universities authored this ten-year follow up and expansion of their 2005 and2006 studies of AAPIs in prime time television. In their new study, they evaluate broadcast, cable, and streaming television scripted shows airing between September 1, 2015 and August 31, 2016. The authors report on how AAPI series regulars fare in numbers, settings, screen time, relationships, stereotypes, and storylines.
Essential findings of the Report include:
TV So White. Whites dominate the television landscape, comprising nearly 70% of television series regulars compared to 4% of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Pacific Islanders make up only 0.2% of series regulars, which is half of their U.S. population.
Missing. Over 64% of all shows DO NOT feature a single AAPI series regular. In contrast, 96% of TV shows have at least one White series regular. Furthermore, the majority of shows set in AAPI-dense cities including New York and Los Angeles have no AAPI series regulars.
Isolated. Intimate relationships add to a character’s complexity and draw an audience into that character’s development throughout the episode and series. Three times as many White series regulars have romantic and/or familial relationships as AAPIs, heightening their isolation.
Low Visibility. AAPI series regulars are eclipsed by their White counterparts, who are on screen over 3 times longer. A whopping 87% of AAPI series regulars appear on-screen for less than half the total show time, while 17% have the LOWEST screen times on their respective shows.
Tokens. More than two-thirds of TV shows featuring AAPI series regulars have ONLY ONE. As Aziz Ansari’s character ‘Dev Shah’ astutely observes in Master of None, “There can be one, but there can’t be two.” This indicates the tokenization of AAPIs, included to satisfy minimal diversity but without true commitment to accurately portraying varied AAPI experiences.
Segregated & Endangered. AAPIs are segregated onto just a handful of shows. A full 10% of AAPI series regulars appear on just one show: Marco Polo (Netflix), which has been cancelled. Over one-third of all Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders appear on just eleven shows. More than half of those shows have been cancelled or not renewed, cutting AAPI representation by 21%.
Representation. While many shows perpetuate racial stereotypes, exemplary shows such as The Night Of, Master of None, The Walking Dead, and Fresh Off the Boat portray multifaceted AAPIs.