A discussion of Hispanic characters and actors on prime time television.
This paper examines how Hispanics have been one of the least represented minorities on prime time network television and their depiction as always maids and criminals. It attributes this to the lack of Hispanic viewers and their apathy in doing anything about this stereotyping . The paper concludes by showing that other although other industries are realizing the potential of Hispanic customers such as advertising and the music industry, prime time television falls far behind.
“One reason there are so few portrayals of Hispanics in prime time television is lack of viewers. The television community relies on professional rating firms such as Nielsen and Arbitron for their ratings and audience information. Regrettably, it has historically been extremely difficult for ratings services, such as Nielsen and Arbitron to rate the viewing habits of minority viewers. “A special problem is presented by the ethnic groups (black and Hispanic) for two reasons: low cooperation rates and significant viewing/listening differences from whites. The poor response by these groups is the result of suspicion and illiteracy” (Beville 226). Both companies developed different ratings methods that have been more successful, but these ethnic groups are still under represented in rating surveys across the nation.”