Just this week CBS announced their intentionsto diversify their castingon all unscripted TV shows produced by their network. Starting with the 2021-2022 broadcast season, the network wants at least 50% of all their cast in unscripted shows to be Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC). Additionally, they will be allocating 25% of their unscripted TV budget for projects created or co-created by BIPOC producers.
George Cheeks, President and CEO of CBS Entertainment Group discussedthe need for greater diversityin unscripted TV: “The reality TV genre is an area that’s especially underrepresented, and needs to be more inclusive across development, casting, production and all phases of storytelling. As we strive to improve all of these creative aspects, the commitments announced today are important first steps in sourcing new voices to create content and further expanding the diversity in our unscripted programming, as well as on our Network.”
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It’s a nice sentiment coming from a major network. A lack of diversity in production and casting is often lamented by minority activists, and it seems CBS has a genuine interest in rectifying that issue within their own ecosystem. Notably, the focus on making sure diverse voices are heard at all levels of production, not just the forward facing cast, indicates a genuine commitment to change that goes behind a basic PR push. The company is also pushing its scripted content towards greater diversity, aiming for 40% representation of BIPOC in their writing rooms within the same time frame. They have also recently announced a multi-year content partnership with the NAACP.
This decision also comes after a long-sustained criticism that the network’s popular shows likeSurvivorandThe Bachelorhave had issues with representation. Former Black contestants fromSurvivorhave pressured the company to be more inclusive in its casting for a while.The Bachelorin particular has had allegations of racist practices swirling around it for some time. Hopefully this new initiative will allow both for more representation within the network’s workforce,and also a more sensitive handling of race and diversityin the network’s programming.
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