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Rural, Midwestern, and Southern U.S. television and film viewers’ hunger for grounded, relatable stories is clear. Mediamakers seeking to engage “middle America” should lean into stories that address work-family challenges, people managing caregiving and finances, and people of all genders navigating workplace and family relationships. Audiences in rural communities, the Midwest, and the Southeastern and Southwestern U.S. are also very eager to see people looking for and finding solutions. 

These conclusions are based on responses from a subset of viewers in selected communities and states, drawn from a national study of 1,310 television and film viewers aged 18–59. They add nuance to previously released national showing that work, family, and care stories are widely appealing to viewers across the United States, regardless of age, background, political affiliation, or personal beliefs about family and gender roles.

Insights on the preferences and desires of viewers in “middle America”  are relevant to creatives, studios, and platforms seeking to better appeal to people in the United States who live in parts of the country far from Hollywood and other urban production and creative centers—46 million in rural communities, 70 million in the Midwest, and tens of millions in fast-growing southern states. 

For those seeking to engage these viewers in middle America, it’s important to know that:

• Nine-in-ten rural viewers, Midwestern viewers, and Southern viewers say that seeing realistic work, family, and care scenarios on screen is important to them. Depictions of relatable family challenges are appealing to about nine in ten as well, and relatable workplace situations related to work, family, and care are widely appealing to more than eight in ten viewers. 
• Majorities of audiences in rural, Midwestern, and Southern communities are hungry for more realistic depictions of how people manage work, family, and care compared to what is shown on screen now. While majorities of viewers across all communities want to see stories that better reflect reality, certain circumstances resonate even more with viewers in specific communities. For example:
  • Rural viewers want to see more depictions of women breadwinners.
  • Midwestern viewers want to see more depictions of dads as competent caregivers.
  • Southeastern viewers want to see more depictions of family caregiving.
  • Southwestern viewers want to see more realistic discussions of child care costs, challenges facing student parents, and the role of systemic factors in contributing to poverty and health challenges.
• Work-family content affects subscription decisions for large majorities of viewers in middle America. Seven-in-ten viewers in the South and nearly two-thirds in the Midwest say that seeing more work, family, and care stories embedded into a streaming service’s programming would make them more likely to subscribe or stay subscribed. Sixty-two percent of rural viewers across the U.S. say work-family content would motivate subscription decisions.
• A majority of rural, Southern, and Midwestern viewers say the inclusion of everyday challenges managing work, family, and care and believable dialogue make a show or film feel authentic. These elements are desirable to viewers in both expected genres, such as shows and films about friendship or the attainment of a personal goal, and in high-concept stories, including those focused on scientific and technological advancements, extinction and apocalypse, and extreme weather and climate.
• Nine-in-ten viewers in middle America—like U.S. viewers overall—are hungry to see characters looking for and finding solutions to common work, family, and care challenges. Characters speaking with pride about parenting and caregiving, and finding support from colleagues and co-workers are story elements that viewers are highly interested in seeing. 
• Midwesterners, Southerners, and those living in rural areas all value diversity on screen. Viewers in each of these communities show at least equal, if not greater, interest in seeing characters with racial or ethnic backgrounds different from their own in shows and films. At least two-thirds are also interested in seeing people in different economic circumstances than their own, as well.

At a time when the media landscape is shifting, and studios and platforms are competing for viewers, producing engaging stories that appeal to audiences across differences is key. Embedding elements of work, family, and caregiving into characters’ lives, stakes, and stories is one way to make shows and films relatable, authentic, and compelling to audiences across differences in life experience, geography, and backgrounds.