Special Report: Latest Nielsen Report Finds Black America At The Front Of World Culture
Jose Luis Pelaez Inc
Black culture has been at the forefront of American monoculture throughout most of American history. From blues and jazz to rock and hip hop, American media was built on the backs of African Americans without giving them proper recognition. As we age into a digital landscape where diversity can flourish, Black Americans are shaping the future of media through their avid consumption and immense influence on popular culture. For Black audiences, media is a means of connecting, and it's become imperative for media to accurately represent the myriad of Black influences on contemporary society.
Nielsen has published a new study about the global Black audience as a part of their Diverse Intelligence Series of 2024. The report discusses the consumption habits of Black America and its relation to globalization, the power of Black creators, and their shifting ideology on representation. As media’s cultural barriers slowly lower, this study aims to highlight the consensus of the global Black community, surveying individuals in Brazil, Nigeria, South Africa, the U.K., and the U.S.
On average, African Americans over 18 spend nearly 12 hours with media — over two hours more than the general population. Despite this, older groups spend even more time with media, averaging 92 hours per week, or 13 hours and 16 minutes per day. Black Americans spend almost 55% of their media time with TV, with those from ages 18-49 spending around 107 combined hours watching TV, 31 hours more than the general population. Black Americans over 50 years old spend 71 hours watching TV, over 22 more hours than the general population. Of this, Black Americans spend almost 55% of their media time with TV, a majority of it spent on traditional live television. Live TV continues to be the bastion for Black America’s entertainment; however , live TV’s lack of diversity may push their core audience away and inevitably lose its war with streaming.
African American's Time With TV In Hours
Diversity has grown significantly over the past decade, but the global Black population thinks there should be more. Black immigrants currently make up just 7% of the total Black American population, and the U.S Census projects this will increase to 16% by 2060. One-third of the U.S. Black population will be Black immigrants, which puts pressure on American entertainment to accurately engage and represent this expanding diversity of the Black population. When asked “I wish I saw more representation of my identity group when I watch TV,” 68.5% of African Americans said they agreed despite growing diversity in television. Of Black first-generation individuals 61.2% agreed, while over 54.8% of Black and foreign-born individuals agreed. Traditional TV doesn’t harbor the same diversity as streaming services, and factoring in Black Americans’ preference for live TV, we can directly see how the lack of diversity on cable continues to harm their most loyal audience members.
As we examine the streaming data, Black Americans are outliers, least likely to feel overwhelmed by the growing expanse of total programs available. When asked if the abundance of choice makes it difficult to find something to watch, 34% said they disagree, while 25% of Hispanics, 22% of AAPIs, and 28% of white Americans disagreed. The wide range of content available on streaming entices thousands of Black audiences looking for representation that’s absent from traditional television. Black Americans watch live TV more than any other type of media, but in just four years, the percentage of Black TV households who watch cable dropped from 70.4% to 41%. Conversely, the number of Black TV Households that use a broadband connection grew from 12.4% to 43.8%, becoming the most popular television source. Diversity is a foundational aspect of media, and without proportional representation, audiences don’t get the opportunity to learn about different cultures or see themselves represented.
While U.S. Black audiences are 1.4 times more likely to say there’s not enough representation, they also demand representation that captures the complex intersectionality of the global Black community. Nielsen’s 2023 Black Diaspora Study found that 67% of Black audiences continue to report a lack of representation on screen. More than other demographics, Black audiences desire authentic portrayals of their community and continuously feel misrepresented in the media.
Percentage of Global Black Audiences Who Feel Misrepresented In Media
This issue isn’t just in America, it reaches across the globe. Nielsen surveyed Black individuals in different countries to gauge their feelings regarding misrepresentation and found this sentiment to be global. In particular, Nigeria strongly feels their identity group is largely misrepresented in media at 74.8%. Of U.K. participants, 64.4% reported that media often misrepresents their identity and culture. The U.S., South Africa, and Brazil reported highs of 62.7%, 61.2%, and 60.8% respectively. Black respondents from around the world found specific aspects of Black culture to be prime targets of misrepresentation such as neighborhoods, countries of origin, hair types, and skin complexion.
Percentage of Global Black Audiences Who Feel Misrepresented In Media
Despite local media disappointing Black viewers around the globe, the TV’s widening landscape allows for the breaking down of cultural barriers and for international media to flourish. Black audiences are incredibly open to new forms of entertainment, and Nielsen found that around 52% of Black Gen Z viewers watch programming with subtitles. They are 1.6 times more likely than the general public to watch content in languages they don’t speak. Specifically, countries like South Africa and Nigeria have a significantly higher usage of subtitles in other languages.
Black creators on social media have immense influence as they accurately portray their lives, culture, and history that traditional media often forgoes. In addition to global Black audiences believing it’s important to follow Black creators, other countries and communities have spoken about the impact of Black creators online. In Brazil, 60% of audiences say it’s important to follow Black influencers, while 51% of white Gen Z Americans think it’s important. More than half of first-generation Black Americans say they follow a Black creator based outside the U.S., and seven out of 10 Black respondents from the U.K. agree as well.
Even without social media and television, Black artists directly influence contemporary music and inspire other artists to embrace the sounds of their culture. Hip hop, for example, was born in the early ‘70s on the eastern coast of the United States, but it has expanded and reached worldwide status. The current Hot 100 charts feature dozens of Black artists and musical genres born out of African American communities. It accounts for 20% of all audio streaming among 18- to 34-year-olds, and accounts for more than 96,000 of the most listened to artists globally.
Today’s media environment has bridged the gap between cultures with its unique ability to unite people over shared commonalities, cultures, and interests. Black America is the marketplace where culture is defined, and industry professionals must take note and ensure Black audiences are adequately represented and entertained. Whether it’s through social media, TV, or music, Black creators have established themselves as dominant mainstays of popular culture, and Black audiences deserve to consume media that platforms the voices of their own culture. Inclusion and accurate representation should be at the forefront of Hollywood’s agenda, otherwise they risk losing out on the most influential group in media.