Illuminative and Nielsen present new data on the growth and influence of native content at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival

EXCLUSIVE: NilsenThe audience measurement, data and analytics organization today presented the results of their case studies on Indigenous content during a panel discussion at the Indigenous House at the Sundance Film Festival, hosted by Illumina Nativethe indigenous women-led social justice organization dedicated to building visibility and representation for indigenous peoples.

The panel discussion explored the demand for native content and how the need for native storytelling has helped revitalize streaming and viewer engagement, as well as the nuance and complexity that native programming brings to the silver screen. Speakers include Crystal Echo Hawk, Founder and CEO of IllumiNative, Tazbah Chavez, Writer/Director, Latasha Gillespie, Global Head of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility for Amazon Studios and Prime Video, and Patricia Ratulangi, VP, Global Communications, DE&I, Nielsen.

“Visibility is power, and we, as Native people, know firsthand how important it is to be seen and featured on screen in an authentic and fair way,” said Crystal Echo Hawk, founder and executive director of IllumiNative. “We are so grateful to Nielsen researchers for helping to bring this data to light and confirm what we already knew: native rendering and native content are good for business. Indigenous and non-Indigenous viewers are hungry for Indigenous-focused stories, like the blockbusters prey and reserve dogs, which helped revive the streaming industry. The long-standing myth that native content doesn’t pay off has been debunked, and Hollywood is running out of excuses. We still have a long way to go to achieve equality, but we look forward to celebrating where we are today through the historic achievements of Indigenous creators in the entertainment industry.”

During the panel discussion, Nielsen revealed data from him Seen on screen Case studies related to the impact of native content, including Reserve dogs (Hulu), prey (Hulu) and dark winds (A&E) and the economic value it brings in terms of viewer acquisition, viewer retention and platform retention. One of the most important findings:

When considering the ROI of programs with Native American/Indigenous representations, content featuring Indigenous peoples not only attracts new viewers, but also helps platforms retain them. hulus Reserve dogs received 1.4 million new viewers and had a platform retention rate of 23%. This means that 23% of viewers who opted out stayed with the platform or network to watch additional content. hulus prey received 5.9 million new viewers and had a platform retention rate of 15%, as well as A&Es dark winds received 2.8 million new viewers and had a network retention rate of 15%.

Indigenous-centric stories were a big hit and extensive streaming success – prey was the fourth most streamed film in its week of release, with the domestic audience watching 22 million minutes during its week of premiere dark winds After the premiere, viewers made up 6% of the total network reach. Additionally, native content has been successful in attracting non-native audiences. For example, prey attracted a 27% Hispanic audience, supporting IllumiNative’s Reclaiming Native Truth poll which found that 78% of Americans want to learn more about Native people and support greater representation of Native people in television and film.

“The representation of Native Americans and Indigenous peoples on screen has existed for far too long,” said Pat Ratulangi, Nielsen’s vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion. “As we’ve seen with shows and films like Reservation Dogs, Dark Winds and Prey, the authentic portrayal of Native Americans and Native Americans draws new viewers to media platforms and helps those platforms retain viewers. While the overall representation of tribal peoples is still below population parity, the entertainment industry is finally beginning to understand the economic implications of investing in tribal stories and storytellers.

For more information about the Native House please contact [email protected] For more information on Nielsen’s Seen of Screen: Indigenous Representation, click here.