Ever since they started a very popular home decoration reality show on German television, the demand for building-related vocational trainings have skyrocketed. Television is an opinion leader, especially for people with lower levels of education - be it for them being young or for lack of opportunities. As Star Trek increased the interest in space travel, for example the Big Bang Theory has proven to raise the interest in STEM - science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
There are lots of excluded people who spend a lot of time watching shows to fill the void of the lack of friends and partying opportunities. In their case a character like them - having a different skin colour, being phyiscally disabled, autistic, fat, etc - depicted in a positive way can boost their self-esteem and can help them to find company and success in real life, too. It helps to set dreams, and you need dreams that drive you to succeed.
I also think that such efforts, if not sweaty, can also help make society more inclusive and open by making charcters from a group that has been depicted as one to be afraid of (like black-skinned people in the US or Roma people in Eastern Europe) or to be shamed (eg. for being fat) really popular. This popularity can subsequently have an impact on the level of acceptance of whole minority groups.
After all, our society is diverse, even if many live in non-divers bubbles. Television has an educational role, too, in showing the complexity of communities.
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