This article from the LA Times discusses how daytime tv (talk shows, soap operas, etc) features people of color as prominent performers while prime time continues to exclude them. Daytime talk show hosts such as Queen Latifah draw huge ratings yet SNL hasn't had a black female cast member since 2007. The article says "The contrasting pictures reflect different economic approaches and expectations: The audiences and budgets for morning and afternoon shows are considerably smaller than for programs in prime time, where the risks are greater and more expensive. Television executives also develop shows with an eye toward international markets, and they worry that some foreign buyers might be less likely to buy a show with an ethnic lead." Furthermore "When characters of color are cast in those nighttime shows, he added, they "are part of an ensemble — the shows are not about them. In daytime, the people of color can be the star — the host of a game show or the head of a talk show." The only prime time shows that feature people of color are Elementary, Scandal, and The Mindy Project. This relates to the problems experienced by Inside Bedford-Stuyvesant, which was broadcast at the marginal times of 1 am and 7 am. Like the audience then, people of color refuse "to accept their status as second class viewers" and people are demanding diversity.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-fi-ct-black-daytime-television-20131109,0,2700328,full.story#axzz2kScyI188
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In regards to there only being three prime time shows featuring people of color, the newest run of pilots/shows is making some further headway. Notably both Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Sleepy Hollow, both new shows that have received full season orders and in the case of Sleepy Hollow has been renewed for a second season as well, have main and recurring cast members who are people of color. So far, five of the seven recurrent cast members on Sleepy Hollow are people of color and three of the seven are women, two of whom are women of color. Brooklyn Nine-Nine also features two women of color and of the recurring cast of seven, four of the actors are people of color. While these are only two of the shows that have been picked up for the season, they are two that have been receiving a great deal of critical attention, much of it positive, and they also both have a number of staff writers who are people of color. The combination of the backlash against SNL for their mostly white lineup and the success of shows with more diverse casts, including the three shows mentioned in the above post, will hopefully be the start of an upwards trend in better representation on primetime. In one fun interview with one of the SH writers, when they were asked why the show has killed off so many white people (in a fun reversal of the trope where the person of color always dies first) the writers responded that they're very proud of having subverted this trope and that "It was not a conscious effort, but it was a conscious effort to have a diverse cast just to represent our world. I don’t think it’s realistic for the whole cast to be white. I also think when you are developing a show and casting it mostly Caucasian and you get down to the bad guy and the network is like, “You have to have some diversity,” then all of the sudden…that’s why the person of color is always killed. And because we have so much diversity in our cast and we’ve had the freedom to cast our villains and victims however we want, so we can kill as many white people as we want." There is some rising awareness amongst the staffs of prime time shows which is making a difference. There was also a groundbreaking (not really) study done recently at a university that found an undeniable correlation between positive show ratings and shows with more diversity within the cast. I've been trying to find the link for a while and haven't come across it (i saw it several weeks ago now) but if I do manage to find it I'll post it. Anyway, as shows like the ones mentioned continue to receive good ratings and shows like SNL receive significant amounts of feedback regarding their lack of representation, their is at least a possibility that the state of representation on prime time television will improve in coming seasons.
I found it! here's the article that sums up the study done by the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies regarding the correlation between shows ratings and representation http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/study-finds-that-tv-shows-with-248757.aspx
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