Asians Under Represented on US TV

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The study includes the following findings:

• The percentage of regular APA characters on prime time television amounts to less than half of the actual APA population in the United States.

• APA regular characters are often absent from programs set in cities with high APA populations, such as San Francisco and Los Angeles, or severely under-represented in places like Hawaii and New York City.

• APA regular characters on prime time television generally feature less prominently than other characters, as demonstrated by their significantly lower screen times.

• On average, non-APA regular characters have four times as many romantic or familial relationships as APA regular characters. APA regular characters are generally absent from prime time situational comedies that feature families.

• Monoracial APA actors fare worse in nearly every measurement of character prominence and quality than multiracial APA actors on average in prime time.

“The study shows that APA actors continue to face barriers in obtaining quality roles in Hollywood,” said NAPALC President Karen K. Narasaki. “Because people tend to rely on characterizations from film and television to formulate beliefs about groups with whom they may be less familiar, representations of Asian Pacific Americans on prime time television may impact the treatment and perceptions of APAs in real life.”

Narasaki added, “The study’s findings that APA regular characters are much less likely to be depicted as having loving or family relationships contribute to the inability of other Americans to connect with them as people like themselves, with the same dreams and problems.”

Lead researcher Nancy Yuen noted that this study is unique in comparing roles portrayed by monoracial versus multiracial APA actors. “The fact that multiracial APA actors generally had regular roles that were more prominent than the monoracial Asian actors demonstrate both the progress multiracial APAs have made in the Hollywood industry and the handicap that monoracial Asians, who largely portray Asian-ethnic roles, still bear,” said Yuen.

NAPALC commissioned the study with funding provided by the IW Group to look beyond the raw numbers that it has been compiling for the past several years in its work as Chair of the Asian Pacific American Media Coalition. The team of researchers, composed of doctoral students in UCLA’s Department of Sociology, coded and analyzed shows taped on the six national broadcast networks over a six week period in the fall. Led by Nancy Yuen, the team included Christina Chin, Meera Deo, Jenny Lee and Noriko Milman. Ten Communications provided creative and design support and Anheuser-Busch, Inc. provided the printing of the report.