*Prime-time drama “Empire,” which has begun its fourth season on Fox, is the most-popular show among African-American women.
This is just one of a number of facts featured in a recent Nielsen report titled “African-American Women: Our Science, Her Magic.” The report discusses a range of topics from viewing habits to the growing economy in the demographic.
“Terrence Howard TIFF 2011” by gdcgraphics (CC-BY-SA-2.0)
This is the seventh time that Nielsen has produced a report on African-American viewers and the second to specifically focus on black women, a market that is anticipated to be hugely influential in growing the black economy to $1.5 trillion by the year 2021.
There is no question that 2016 was a phenomenal year for black TV and film. Issa Rae has achieved quite the following from her work in Insecure, Luke Cage and OWN’s Greenleaf debuted on Netflix, Donald Glover provided the laughs with Atlanta, and Ellis Ross was awarded a Golden Globe for her role as Rainbow Johnson in Black-ish.
Nielsen also found that the most recent season of Empire was the most-viewed series among black women aged 18 and above.
Empire, along with the likes of Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder, targets black women more than most other shows. However, with the lines increasingly blurring between what appeals to each gender, it is a fact that is becoming less relevant. We are not only seeing this blurring of lines in television, but in other markets, such as gaming, video games and online casino games alike. Many casino games available to visit now cater for both men and women, such as Reel Spinner and Wild Orient. Empire viewers may have even seen these games being played on the show, with gaming having featured in a number of storylines.
Making up the top five shows were VH1’s “Love and Hip Hop Atlanta”, “The Have and the Have Nots” on OWN, “Star” from Empire’s Lee Daniels, and BET’s “The New Edition Story.”
High African-American social media engagement is also a factor in the success of shows with strong black characters and series’ with largely blacks casts. Almost each time one is on air, it trends on social networks. Black women aren’t just watching, they’re providing opinion through social media, discussing Black cultural references, citing clever lines of dialogue, and reviewing sex scenes and plot twists.
Further, the opportunity to discuss shows online as they are being broadcast and to be exposed to other watcher’s live opinions have encouraged Black women to watch live broadcasts, as opposed to on-demand.
This has led to an uptick on Twitter, which indicates to prospective viewers that they are missing out on a quality show, and that they should be involved, which is why Black audiences and their favourite shows have made both networks and advertisers sit up and take notice.
Black women are early adopters and trendsetters who utilise the power of social media for inspiration and for advice on making consumer decisions, claims Nielsen.
Other numbers mentioned in a press statement made about the report included African-American women having majority ownership in over 1.5mn businesses with an impressive $42bn in sales.
Their emphasis on a positive self-image is having an effect on how women from all cultures view themselves.
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