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Report: Network TV Reflects More Diversity

By SANDY COHEN
The Associated Press
Thursday, December 1, 2005; 10:45 PM

LOS ANGELES -- Network television reflects more of the country's racial and
ethnic diversity today than it did six years ago but much more progress
could be made, according to a report released Thursday.

The diversity survey, issued annually since 1999 by members of the
Multi-Ethnic Media Coalition, gave mostly mediocre marks to the major
broadcast networks for diversity in front of and behind the camera. The
report assigns grades based on figures provided by Fox, ABC, NBC and CBS.

"There has been incremental progress," said Alex Nogales, president of the
National Hispanic Media Coalition, part of the multi-ethnic coalition.
"It's encouraging, but the numbers are still not where they should be."

Individual report cards were issued by the National Latino Media Council
and the Asian Pacific American Media Coalition. Mark Reed, chairman of
American Indians in Film and Television, gave the networks F grades across
the board.

"The American Indian is invisible in prime-time television," he said.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which
monitors the representation of blacks on television, is expected to issue
its diversity report card in January.

Hispanics made noteworthy strides this year, Nogales said, particularly at
ABC. He lauded the network for two of its prime-time programs, "The George
Lopez Show" and "Freddie," which feature largely Hispanic casts and show
some characters speaking Spanish.

ABC earned the highest overall marks from the Hispanic and Asian advocacy
groups. It's a significant shift for the network, which "was beyond an F-
six years ago," said Karen Narasaki, chairman of the Asian Pacific American
Media Coalition.

ABC shows "Lost" and "Grey's Anatomy" were celebrated for featuring
Asian-American actors, writers, producers and directors. Two Asian-American
actors earned Emmy nominations this year for their roles on ABC shows,
Narasaki noted.

Fox, cited as a champion of TV diversity three years ago, lost favor this
year with Asian and Hispanic groups. According to the report cards, the
network comes up short in employing Hispanic actors and executives and
needs to develop more programs for Asian performers.

"This is the second year in a row they've dropped," Narasaki said. "How is
that that 'House' can be set in a hospital and there are no regular
Asian-American roles?"

CBS lacks significant opportunities for Asian-American actors and writers,
Narasaki said. "After five years, we haven't seen much progress," she said.

The network fared better with the Hispanic graders, who note CBS employs a
large number of Hispanic actors and directors.

NBC has "huge numbers" of Hispanic actors and more than 20 Hispanic
directors working on its programs, Nogales said. Asian writers maintain a
notable presence at the network, but acting and producing roles declined
significantly over the past year, Narasaki said.

Of 370 NBC episodes evaluated, only one was produced by an Asian-American,
she said.

The Multi-Ethnic Media Coalition began issuing its diversity report cards
in 1999, when a nearly all-white schedule of new network series provoked an
outcry from civil rights groups, leading to agreements by broadcasters to
improve their performance.

Network representatives said Thursday that diversity is important to them
and they will try to increase it.

___

On the Net:

National Hispanic Media Coalition: http://www.nhmc.org
© 2005 The Associated Press