The UK television industry's diversity progress has essentially ground to a halt, according to a new analysis by the Creative Diversity Network. Five years after broadcasters made sweeping commitments following the George Floyd killing and Black Lives Matter protests, representation of people from ethnic minority backgrounds remains largely stagnant on-screen and has actually decreased off-screen. The report found that on-screen roles held by Black, Asian, and other minority ethnic workers locked at 23.2% since 2022, while behind-the-scenes employment of the same groups dropped to 13% — substantially below the 17.9% figure for the wider UK workforce.

The stalled progress contrasts sharply with the ambitious diversity agendas that major broadcasters had unveiled in summer 2020, when the industry appeared primed for meaningful overhaul. Six years on, people from minority ethnic backgrounds occupy just 12% of senior leadership positions, a figure that has declined since 2022 and fallen back to 2019 levels. While certain roles such as lead acting positions filled by minorities at 34.9% show marked improvement, the overall picture suggests that corporate pledges were not translated into the systematic institutional shifts needed to transform an industry traditionally controlled by those from privileged backgrounds.