Asian Americans are the American minority most unimpressed with how they are portrayed in mainstream TV, according to a survey about 1,500 households in the United States.
27% of the Asian respondents felt the portrayal of their community in mainstream media was inaccurate, while only 22% felt it was accurate. The rest were neutral.
Similarly, 31% felt Asian Americans were under-represented in mainstream TV compared to their overall numbers in the society. On 24% felt their levels of representation was fair.
The study also found high levels of frustration among Hispanics who regularly watched English-language TV.
35% of Hispanics who rely primarily on English-language TV for their entertainment were disappointed with how the minority was portrayed.
Interestingly, the dissatisfaction seemed to be restricted only to those who watched English-language TV. For example, only among Hispanics who get most of their TV entertainment from Spanish-language TV, only 13% felt that the portrayal of Hispanics on American TV was misleading.
“Our findings, particularly the dramatic differences between key segments of the Hispanic market, help underscore the value viewers place in seeing themselves represented in the stories, voices, and faces they watch on TV,” said Adriana Waterston, Horowitz’s VP of Marketing and Business Development.