STARZ
STARZ - Validating a New Audience Opportunity for P-Valley
The question
STARZ was considering a series unlike anything else in its portfolio.
P-Valley centered on a Mississippi Delta strip club and included adult themes, nudity and storylines around Black sexuality and LGBTQ+ identity that executives were not convinced would resonate with a large enough audience.
There was also a broader strategic concern.
STARZ had already built successful but very different audiences around shows such as Power and Outlander. Power, in particular, had established a strong Black audience for the network, but the assumption was that P-Valley might be too different to appeal to that existing base and could potentially push established viewers away.
The real question was not simply whether audiences liked the concept.
It was whether STARZ could successfully serve distinct audiences with different interests and expectations, even when some of those audiences shared similar demographic characteristics.
The signals
The research looked beyond broad demographic labels to understand who was connecting with P-Valley, what they were responding to and whether the show had enough appeal to establish an audience on its own.
That meant looking at the elements executives considered potentially risky — the setting, sexuality, LGBTQ+ representation, characters and cultural specificity — rather than assuming those elements automatically limited the opportunity.
The work showed that audiences who may look similar demographically are not necessarily looking for the same stories.
Black audiences were not one interchangeable viewing group, just as STARZ’s broader audience could not be understood through race, gender or other demographic characteristics alone.
The gap
The underlying assumption was that expanding the portfolio with a very different Black-led series could compete with, dilute or alienate the audience STARZ had already built.
But that framed the opportunity too narrowly.
The more useful question was whether P-Valley could attract a distinct audience because of what made it different, while existing shows continued serving the audiences already invested in them.
This was less about choosing between audiences and more about understanding whether the portfolio could make room for both.
What became clear
The research challenged the idea that demographic similarity meant shared content preferences.
There was room for multiple, distinct audiences within the STARZ portfolio.
P-Valley did not need to recreate the audience proposition of Power in order to succeed. Its distinctive world, characters, cultural perspective and willingness to explore stories that were less represented on television were part of the opportunity.
Rather than weakening what STARZ had already built, the series had the potential to broaden the network’s audience by giving another group of viewers something meaningfully different to come for.
The Influence
The work helped give STARZ greater confidence that P-Valley represented a viable audience opportunity and contributed to the broader decision-making around moving the series forward.
More broadly, it demonstrated the value of looking beyond demographics when evaluating audiences.
The strategic implication was bigger than one show: people who share demographic characteristics do not necessarily share the same identities, motivations, interests or content preferences. Growth can come from understanding those differences rather than treating an audience as a monolith.
Ready To Look Again?
The Answer May Already be in Plain Sight.
Let’s look at what the evidence is telling you.
Ready To Look Again?
The Answer May Already be in Plain Sight.
Let’s look at what the evidence is telling you.
Follow our strategic perspectives
STARZ
STARZ - Validating a New Audience Opportunity for P-Valley
The question
STARZ was considering a series unlike anything else in its portfolio.
P-Valley centered on a Mississippi Delta strip club and included adult themes, nudity and storylines around Black sexuality and LGBTQ+ identity that executives were not convinced would resonate with a large enough audience.
There was also a broader strategic concern.
STARZ had already built successful but very different audiences around shows such as Power and Outlander. Power, in particular, had established a strong Black audience for the network, but the assumption was that P-Valley might be too different to appeal to that existing base and could potentially push established viewers away.
The real question was not simply whether audiences liked the concept.
It was whether STARZ could successfully serve distinct audiences with different interests and expectations, even when some of those audiences shared similar demographic characteristics.
The signals
The research looked beyond broad demographic labels to understand who was connecting with P-Valley, what they were responding to and whether the show had enough appeal to establish an audience on its own.
That meant looking at the elements executives considered potentially risky — the setting, sexuality, LGBTQ+ representation, characters and cultural specificity — rather than assuming those elements automatically limited the opportunity.
The work showed that audiences who may look similar demographically are not necessarily looking for the same stories.
Black audiences were not one interchangeable viewing group, just as STARZ’s broader audience could not be understood through race, gender or other demographic characteristics alone.
The gap
The underlying assumption was that expanding the portfolio with a very different Black-led series could compete with, dilute or alienate the audience STARZ had already built.
But that framed the opportunity too narrowly.
The more useful question was whether P-Valley could attract a distinct audience because of what made it different, while existing shows continued serving the audiences already invested in them.
This was less about choosing between audiences and more about understanding whether the portfolio could make room for both.
What became clear
The research challenged the idea that demographic similarity meant shared content preferences.
There was room for multiple, distinct audiences within the STARZ portfolio.
P-Valley did not need to recreate the audience proposition of Power in order to succeed. Its distinctive world, characters, cultural perspective and willingness to explore stories that were less represented on television were part of the opportunity.
Rather than weakening what STARZ had already built, the series had the potential to broaden the network’s audience by giving another group of viewers something meaningfully different to come for.
The Influence
The work helped give STARZ greater confidence that P-Valley represented a viable audience opportunity and contributed to the broader decision-making around moving the series forward.
More broadly, it demonstrated the value of looking beyond demographics when evaluating audiences.
The strategic implication was bigger than one show: people who share demographic characteristics do not necessarily share the same identities, motivations, interests or content preferences. Growth can come from understanding those differences rather than treating an audience as a monolith.
Ready To Look Again?
The Answer May Already be in Plain Sight.
Let’s look at what the evidence is telling you.