Boosting diversity is ‘a commercial benefit’

Audiences will move away from mainstream broadcasters who do not improve on and off-screen diversity, warned ITV Commissioning Head of Diversity Ade Rawcliffe.

In a Pioneer IBC keynote, titled The way forward on the road to inclusion, Rawcliffe called on broadcasters to “normalise the world of television” by commissioning content that represents the world accurately.

She called for “the widest range of voices” to appear onscreen and to be employed behind the camera.

“If [viewers] see themselves represented in content they’ll enjoy it more - and that’s a commercial benefit,” explained Rawcliffe.

She warned that audiences will migrate to platforms that do offer content that represents the diversity of society around them. “If broadcasters don’t get it right, the new generation are happy to move away from the mainstream,” Rawcliffe said.

Rawcliffe said the broadcast industry must…