"Mediocre" is the conclusion of the annual National Latino Media Council's Television Network Diversity report released Thursday.

The annual review considers eight categories of Latino inclusion, and the diversity performance of the nation's television networks -- ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC -- during the 2013-2014 season and assigns "Good," "Mediocre" and "Bad" ratings based on who's working in the industry.

"It is clear there is a lot of room for improvement across the board," said former Congressman Esteban Torres, chair of NLMC. "We will continue to work with the networks to ensure that positive internal changes take place to bring more Latinos in front and behind the camera."

The average American television set is on for six hours and 47 minutes a day. Ninety-nine percent of American households have televisions, and 66 percent watch while eating dinner, according to California State University.

This year's report is a mixed bag.

Of the four networks, ABC leads the pack for scripted Latino actors and writers and producers but falls in ratings for directors and unscripted talent.

The report said, "ABC ruled the screen with Latino regulars on returning shows like 'Modern Family' (Sofia Vergara, Rico Rodriguez), 'Once Upon a Time' (Lana Parrilla), 'Grey's Anatomy' (Sara Ramirez), 'Castle' (Jon Huertas), 'Scandal' (Guillermo Diaz) amongst many others, and new shows like 'Resurrection' (Landon Gimenez) and 'The Goldbergs' (Hayley Orrantia)."

Behind the camera, the network is bested by Fox and NBC but gets a "Good" rating for programming development. The report's authors are excited by the "Cristela" comedy pilot about a modern Latino family, created, produced, written and starring Cristela Alonzo, premiering on Friday, Oct. 10 in the 8:30 p.m. time slot.

This past year ABC only increased its Latino executives by one, so it received a "Mediocre" rating. But the network's commitment to diversity received a "Good" rating since ABC Entertainment President Paul Lee was a keynote speaker at NHMC MediaCon in March. It gets commended for its Writer Program, "which has graduated 25 percent of its alums into network writing gigs" but needs to have more Latinos advancing from the Directors Program.

CBS lags in most categories in scripted and unscripted talent but has strengths in writers, producers and directors. The report's authors are encouraged by the network having Nina Tassler as its entertainment chairperson and a number of Latinos in creative seats, making decisions.

It is poorly rated for its scripted actors, with only a few Latino regulars including "Marisa Ramirez ('Blue Bloods'), Mackenzie Vega ('The Good Wife') and Miguel Ferrer ('NCIS: Los Angeles'), among others. But gets credit for a number of recurring actors, notably Ricardo Chavira ('Bad Teacher') and Esai Morales ('Criminal Minds')."

In this category, the report concludes, "So few Latino regulars in front of the camera, CBS' 2013-14 programs did not reflect the pervasiveness of the Latino culture and community in the United States today."

Fox is weakest at hiring Latino talent for writers, producers and directors, but its featuring of Latino actors and improving portrayals is commended by the report. The network is criticized for hiding its diversity numbers from the coalition, but members are encouraged that the situation is changing.

Fox scores a "Good" for the number of Latino actors, which the report concludes is because of Tess Sanchez, Fox's senior vice president of casting. And of its programming this season, the report said, "[Fox] boasted three new shows with Latino regulars: 'Brooklyn Nine Nine' (Melissa Fumero, Stephanie Beatriz), 'Almost Human' (Michael Irby) and 'Dads' (Tonita Castro). NLMC was pleased, in particular, with the positive portrayals of the Latinas on 'Brooklyn Nine Nine' -- Fumero and Beatriz play detectives, and both are hilarious. 'Almost Human' was not picked up for a second season, and 'Dads,' which rightly came under fire for racial stereotypes and offensive jokes, was not renewed."

The network gets a "Mediocre" for creative behind the camera, with few Latinos in key positions on shows. The report concludes Fox could hire more Latino writers for its staff and directors.

NBC is commended for improving the number of Latino actors in scripted and unscripted roles and increasing the use of Latino writers and producers, but it gets a "Mediocre" grade for its few Latino directors, although the ones they have were able to direct more episodes for "Law and Order" and "Chicago PD." In the creative executive capacity, they have good numbers in drama and alternative programming.

Of note, the report said, "Latino regulars populated twelve shows during this season, some of which included more than one Latino regular like 'Welcome to the Family,' 'Chicago Fire' and 'Law and Order: SVU.' In the recurring category viewers saw an increase in Latino talent thanks to shows like 'Law and Order: SVU' and 'Chicago PD.' Unfortunately, four out of the twelve shows with Latino regulars were canceled." And they get commended for unscripted actors appearing in "American Ninja Warrior," "The Sing Off 4" and "The Voice."

How important is network television still with the plethora of ways American can now find programming content through cable, Youtube and content producers like Netflix where there is more diversity?

"Television networks still have the lionshare of the audience. The other content producers are still not comparable with the networks, and it will be a while, if at all," Alex Nogales, CEO of the National Hispanic Media Coalition, told Latin Post.

"They [network executives] all say they want to hire more Latinos, but they don't know where to find them. I say stop messing around, go to organizations like the National Association of Independent Producers, look at the Writers Program where 120 have gone through the program and 28 percent are working professionally. The solution is simple. The networks are doing it with African-Americans and Asian-Americans, but you'd never know Latinos are the largest ethnic group in the U.S. by the numbers at 17.5 percent."

The report is the outcome of a two-year campaign in 2000 by the Multi-Ethnic Media Coalition, which signed Memoranda of Understanding with the networks to diversity the network's workforce. The reports have been issued since 2001 and show trangible results. But the NLMC said there is always room for improvement.

READ MORE: Multicultural America

NPR journalist Maria Hinojosa has created a documentary about multicultural America, "America by the Numbers," an eight-part, half-hour series, starting pn Oct. 4 on PBS. She talked about the series with Latin Post recently.

"What we do know with Latinos and others, they turn it off if they don't see themselves represented," Hinojosa said. "I see myself doing that. That's why I created a television series where we are all there, all of us."