Women-led shows pull more viewing than their share of releases, Luminate finds
Viewers are watching shows about women far more than the number of new releases would suggest.
Women-centred shows made up 11% of premieres from the start of 2025 through the third quarter of 2026, but drew 17% of minutes streamed in the United States over the same stretch, according to Luminate. Minutes streamed means total time spent watching. The findings come from a new Luminate report on supply and demand, reported by Deadline on 15 October.
Demand is outrunning supply. Serialised dramas, meaning stories that continue from episode to episode, made up about one-third of women-centred stories released over much of the last two years. They accounted for 44% of minutes streamed for such shows.
The gap is widest in two corners. Luminate found women-led thrillers and literary adaptations, meaning screen versions of books, remain undersupplied. Women-led literary adaptations took nearly a third of minutes streamed among women-led stories, but only 16% of supply.
Not every category is short of titles. Luminate found the US supply of women-led documentaries and foreign-language films is oversaturated, meaning there are more releases than viewing supports.
Recent viewing backs the pattern. The Handmaid's Tale was Hulu's most-streamed title last year as it finished its six-season run. Furious, starring Emmy Rossum, grew its audience by 90% in the five weeks after its premiere, according to Disney in September. Netflix's adaptation of East of Eden has ranked among Netflix's most-watched weekly television titles since its premiere.
What makes this stand out is how the share has shifted. Luminate previously tracked a broader group of women-centred and feminist stories at 43% of US TV premieres in 2023 and 35% in 2025, according to Luminate. A separate study found representation for women and people of colour declined in streaming films in 2025, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Luminate has tracked screen diversity for several years, including an Entertainment Diversity Progress Report covering film and TV in 2021 and 2022 and a 2026 Midyear Report on music and television. The latest numbers point to a practical question for commissioners, the executives who order new shows: which women-led thrillers, adaptations and continuing dramas get a slot next.
