How the entertainment industry could be missing out on $18 billion by failing to engage Latinos

The Latino community is key to the entertainment industry, but in real terms, how much does it contribute? And, above all, how much could it contribute? That is the question that an organization called the Latino Donor Collaborative (LDC), which focuses on the perception of Latinos in American society, is asking itself. To do so, they frequently conduct surveys and studies, and have now released their annual Latinos in Media report on the presence of this group—which represents one in five Americans—in the media, both in front of and behind the cameras. Their conclusion is very clear: Latinos are underrepresented, which is causing the industry to miss out on an enormous amount of money, estimated at between $12 and $18 billion a year.

It is interesting to see how this lack of representation has a direct impact on the accounts of an industry that is fundamental to the country, especially for California, the state that contributes the most to the country as a whole (around 14% of the total), and which relies heavily on film and television. LDC states that despite the success of many movies, some of them directed by or starring Latinos, they “remain the largest and most underrepresented group across various categories,” and a “potential untapped market.” For Sol Trujillo, LDC director, and Ana Valdez, president, “these data are a call to action for media executives and brands: embracing U.S. Latino representation goes beyond diversity, it is a critical business strategy.”

The data makes it clear: Latinos make up 19.5% of the U.S. population and 25% of those under 18. That represents a significant part of the economy ($3.6 trillion annually, which would make it the fifth largest economy in the world) as well as a large chunk of spending and consumption. For example, they are the segment of the population that goes to the movies the most: they buy 24% of movie tickets (in films like Inside Out 2, they represented 40% of the audience, and they were 41% of the viewership of The Super Mario Bros. Movie). They also represent 24% of the streaming audience and 29% of television consumption on mobile devices. Even so, only 63% feels represented in the American audiovisual sector. So, according to the report, companies would be smart to capitalize on that audience, “the only cohort that is persistently underreached, underconnected and underrepresented in content, messaging and advertising, whether it’s in TV shows, movies, news, awards, programming, events or educational content.”

For this organization, the problem stems from the lack of Latinos in leadership positions and in decision-making. That is why the few Latinos portrayed in the media are often depicted in a stereotypical or unrealistic way. But if there is a Latino in a position of power, it is 15 times more likely that there will be a Latino in the series or film that this individual is involved with. In fact, the report cites certain beauty, phone and alcoholic beverage brands that have managed to capture this segment’s attention (and, therefore, their money).

The community’s underrepresentation was evident this year at the Emmy Awards, held on September 15, with just five Latino nominees. Only one of them won an award, Liza Colón-Zayas, for best supporting actress for The Bear. Actor John Leguizamo, who introduced the director of the Television Academy with a speech full of activism, encouraged the creation of “more stories about excluded groups, Blacks, Asians, Jews, Arabs, LGTBQ+.” As Brenda Victoria Castillo, president of the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC), explained in a statement on Monday, “There are over 65.2 million Latines living in the U.S., accounting for 19.5% of the total population, yet in the Emmy performing categories, this year less than 6% of the submitted candidates by voters were Latine – resulting in a total of five Latine nominations. Yet while we proudly stand and honor the wins for communities of color last night, we cannot – and will not – look past the countless stories from our community that continue to be denied the recognition they deserve.”

This year, the situation is also somewhat more negative due to the strikes by actors and screenwriters that afflicted Hollywood last year, and whose effects are now being felt. This year’s LDC report, in fact, highlights how “the dramatic reduction in the number of new shows aired this year and the decline in box office revenues” are some of the major challenges facing the sector. Between January and August 2023, about 1,000 shows were released (including series and films); by comparison, during the same period this year there have been 638.

In addition, the report analyzed both scripted and unscripted shows (those with a structure but with time allotted for unscripted input by hosts and collaborators), and said there has been an increase in this second category, among other things because unscripted shows are cheaper to produce. In scripted shows (series), Latinos tend to account for about 10% of the cast, barely 8% of the episode directors and only 5% of the showrunners, much worse figures than for Asians, Blacks and whites. As for unscripted shows, Latinos only appear as hosts or narrators in 5% of the cases, that is, 75% less than they should be in terms of their weight in the overall population.

Of particular concern to LDC is the representation of Latinos in streaming platform series, where on average they have 10% of the roles in series, and only 7% of the main roles. While AppleTV+ is the closest to reality, with 17% of Latinos in the main role, the opposite is true for Disney+, whose productions do not have a single one in the main roles. In television programs on television networks, the situation is not better either: only 4% of the hosts, 13% of the participants and barely 2% of the showrunners or content creators are Latino. Only ABC and NBC, they say, have equal representation.

Cinema is not spared either. In the films streamed on the platforms, there are only 11% of Latinos in their main cast (in AppleTV+ there are zero), 10% of directors and 8% of screenwriters. In the theatrical releases it is even worse: they only represent 8% of the characters, 8% of directors and only 4% of screenwriters. Between 2013 and 2022, films and series with more Latinos than average have proven to be more popular, since viewership has been around 60% higher. Although 69% of series and 64% of films paint a positive portrait of the community, there is still a third that falls into stereotypes or negativity.

Based on all these figures, and in collaboration with the McKinsey consultancy, the report finds that “this underrepresentation has significant business implications, as the entertainment industry could be missing out on an additional $12 to $18 billion annually by failing to properly engage this vital demographic.” The report encourages more trust in the many Latino professionals in front of and behind the cameras (84.4% of Latinos in the U.S. speak English, and that percentage rises to 94% among young people), to develop authentic content, to move away from stereotypes, to portray this group in advertisements and, basically, to capitalize on all the potential of a very powerful community that makes valuable decisions. Because “Latin content sells globally.”

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