The (in)visibility of diversity on streaming platforms in France and Norway: A quantitative and qualitative visual analysis of thumbnails

Abstract

In the film and television industry, many social movements as #MeToo, #BuryYourGay or #BlackLivesMatter have highlighted the necessity of better representations of marginalised communities on and off screen. As diversity and inclusion have become major issues in contemporary societies, video-on-demand (VOD) platforms have publicly committed to diversify representation in the films and series they produce and distribute. This article investigates how streaming platforms with different commercial or public interests and in different national contexts understand and promote diversity and inclusion through the analysis of paratext. Focussing on the visual analysis of thumbnails, we compare the French and Norwegian national public platforms (France TV and NRK TV) with the most popular commercial national platforms in each country (Canal + Series in France and Viaplay in Norway). The visibility and invisibility of gender, race, sexuality and (dis)ability on TV series’ thumbnails reveal certain national and platforms’ social, cultural and political values. By using mixed quantitative and qualitative methods including interviews conducted with industry professionals, we aim to highlight the impact of streaming platforms’ promotional practices on the (in)visibility of diversity.