Minorities currently make up 24.4% of the local TV news workforce—up more than a full point from a year ago, according to the latest RTDNA/Hofstra University annual survey.
That 24.4% figure is the second-highest level ever in TV news; The minority workforce at non-Hispanic TV stations, which hit 22.6%, is at its highest level, according to the survey’s report on women and minorities released this week.
The growth came from an increase in Hispanics, whose numbers rose from 8.9% to 10.5%, the study found. African American staffers slipped slightly from 11.1% to 10.9%. Asian Americans and Native Americans both stayed the same.
The largest representations of minorities are found at large-market TV stations.
Minorities, however, now account for 14.9% of news directors at Big Four affiliates, down from last year’s all-time high of 17.1%, RTDNA/Hofstra found.
Minority general managers at non-Hispanic stations edged up slightly from 5.6% to 5.9%.
Minority hiring, however, hasn’t kept pace with the larger 12% growth in the U.S. minority population over the last 27 years, the survey found. The number of minority TV news staffers rose just over half that—6.6%—during that time.
The study also found women make up 44% of the TV news workforce, a slight 0.2% drop from last year’s all-time high. The number of female news directors, however, dropped from 31.1% to 29.8% after two record-high years.
