Scandal taught ABC about diversity. Now they have two shows people can't stop watching.

One of the big questions this television season was if ABC's gamble on diversity would pay off. It appears it has. ABC announced that Black-ish, a sitcom about a wealthy black family, and How to Get Away with Murder, which stars the indomitable Viola Davis as one of the toughest criminal lawyers in the land, would be getting full seasons— 22 total episodes for Black-ish, 15 (Davis's filming schedule restricts the number of episodes she can appear in) for How to Get Away.

Both shows have done well in ratings. Black-ish's third episode drew in 8.28 million viewers, and How to Get Away's second episode drew in 17 million viewers when you add in the DVR viewers, HitFix reported.

The two shows are part of an ABC schedule that is more diverse than it had been in recent years. Back in July, we had reported that the success of Shonda Rhimes's Scandal encouraged and inspired execs to invest in shows that featured more women and non-white characters (the network also has a midseason show in Fresh off the Boat, which is the first sitcom to center on an Asian-American family in 20 years). Black-ish and How to Get Away's full seasons show that move is paying off.

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.

So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)

If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via