Read the series bible for your TV show, which is a document that describes the premise, the main characters, locations and tone. Read old scripts, new scripts and outlines for scripts still being developed to get clues about the show’s current demographic. Make a list of the ages, genders and other identifying qualities of the characters and see if you are neglecting to represent any demographic groups.
Introduce a character that appeals to an under-served aspect of your target demographic. For example, if your show focuses on a group of females and is drawing a largely female audience, add some male characters that will encourage males to watch the show as well.
Examine the ages of the main characters in your show. If the show has multiple children but few or no adults or senior citizens, for example, add characters in different age groups. This could encourage an entire family to watch your show, expanding the demographic from just one age group. If your show is a cartoon, you could entertain the children with amusing situations, while also appealing to their older siblings and parents by including jokes with double-meanings or sophisticated language that only older people will understand.
Break down the ethnic background of your show’s characters. If everyone has the same ethnicity, you could expand your demographic by including members from different groups.
Determine the educational and economic background of the majority of viewers who now watch your show. Conduct surveys among your viewers to learn about their finances and their highest level of schooling. If episodes contain situations and dialog that are appealing to college graduates and professionals, you could be excluding average people to whom advertisers want to sell their products and services. If advertisers consider your show to be mainly appealing to low-income viewers, you could adjust characters, story lines and situations to make them appeal to wealthier viewers in an attempt to win high-end advertisers, such as manufacturers of luxury products.