CBS President Says Network Needs to do Better on Diversity

CBS addressed concerns over lack of diversity on its TV shows a few months after it announced its 2016 fall TV schedule, where all six of its new shows will have white male leads.

On Wednesday at the 2016 Television Critics’ Association tour, critics asked CBS president Glenn Geller about this issue, the Washington Post reports. Critics brought up questions about why people of color were not included in the top level of casting, why there are no showrunners who are people of color and about representation of LGBT people.

Geller admitted that the lead actors are less diverse, but he noted that CBS’s writers and ensemble casting are more diverse than last year, and the directors are on track to be more diverse this year. He added that however, CBS needs to do better. He also said that there are LGBT characters on some of CBS’s shows, and Laverne Cox will star in “Doubt” this season, saying she would be the first transgender woman to play a transgender series regular on TV.

“We work very hard to make sure that every facet of our company is as diverse as possible,” Geller said. “But I hear you. I really do. And I understand that we need to do better.”