Television Awash in Sex, Study Says
11-10-05, 11:01 AM
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Television Awash in Sex, Study Says
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...?track=tothtml
November 10, 2005
Television Awash in Sex, Study Says
The report says 70% of shows include sexual content. The number has risen over the years.
By Jube Shiver Jr., Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — More than a year after federal authorities launched a crackdown on broadcast indecency, television remains so awash in sex that 7 in 10 episodes include some kind of racy content, a study released Wednesday shows.
The results from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation also found that the number of sexual scenes in sitcoms, dramas and reality shows nearly doubled since 1998, while depictions of abstinence or "safe sex" were on the wane.
However, the study found that overt sexual activity and references were far less common than talk about sex, and many of the activities it tallied consisted of banter, kissing and touching. Only 10% of the shows depicted or implied sexual intercourse, the study found.
One example cited came from "The Gilmore Girls," a WB network drama popular with teens, in which the character Lorelai Gilmore urges her daughter, Rory, to get angry after they spot her boyfriend kissing another woman on the neck in public.
"Aren't you guys sleeping together?" Lorelai asks.
"Mom, it's college…. We're both busy, you know; we have classes; we have friends. It's good to just keep things casual," Rory says.
The report also cited an episode of ABC's "Hope & Faith" in which Faith shows up for her first day of work at a dental office in stiletto heels and a low-cut nurse's outfit, aiming to seduce a male patient.
Kaiser, a nonprofit group in Menlo Park, Calif., makes no recommendations in its report. But Kaiser officials said they hoped it would focus attention on whether television influenced casual attitudes toward sex by teens, who the study estimates watch 20 hours of TV a week.
"We are not saying TV is to blame for this phenomenon," said University of Arizona communications professor Dale Kunkel, who helped conduct the study. "But research is indicating that TV has an impact."
Kaiser said it studied what its researchers considered to be a representative sampling of programs on major broadcast and cable channels. Not included were sports or children's programs, nor were some channels, such as MTV and Comedy Central, that carry a high level of sexual content.
Kaiser's sample found 3,780 scenes with sexual activity, compared with 1,930 seven years ago when it first examined the issue. In that report, 56% of the shows studied included sexual content, compared with 70% today.
Breaking down the numbers by genre on broadcast television, the study found that 91% of comedies had sexual content, compared with 87% of dramas, 73% of newsmagazine shows and 41% of reality programs.
"What we are taking is a Dow Jones industrial average of sexual content," said Vicky Rideout, a Kaiser vice president who oversaw the study.
Results were unveiled at a Washington news conference attended by Sen. Barak Obama (D-Ill.), Fox Networks Group President Tony Vinciquerra and Federal Communications Commissioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy.
Obama called on television broadcasters to improve their program ratings system by making content advisories more prominent on the TV screen. He also said TV executives should make it easier for parents to locate family-friendly shows.
"If the industry fails to act — if it fails to give parents advanced controls and new choices — Congress will," Obama said.
The government has been cracking down on broadcast indecency in the wake of singer Janet Jackson's breast-baring incident during the halftime show at the 2004 Super Bowl.
One main concern of legislators is whether the proliferation of sex on TV is contributing to teenage pregnancy. Last year, a Rand Corp. survey of 1,792 adolescents found that teens who watched a lot of sexually suggestive TV shows were almost twice as likely to have sex earlier than teens who didn't.
However, Robert J. Thompson, founder of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, noted that teen pregnancy rates soared in the U.S. long before sex became a staple of TV shows.
Still, Tony Perkins, president of the Washington-based Family Research Council, said the Kaiser study underscored the belief among many parents that television was having a coarsening effect on their kids.
"It's not the same today as when I was growing up and parents left their kids in front of the TV to watch 'Captain Kangaroo,' " Perkins said. "The sex depicted on television does have an effect on kids. If we are what we eat, then we become what we watch."
*
BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX
What's showing
Sexual content on TV has increased
Percentage of programs with any sexual content*
1998: 56%
2002: 64%
2005: 70%
--
And in prime time, every type of show had sexual content
Percentage of shows with sexual content by genre**
Movie: 100%
Comedy series: 91%
Drama series: 87%
Newsmagazine: 73%
Reality: 41%
--
Here's a breakdown of what was depicted
Percentage of shows that had the following**
Sexual talk only: 39%
Other sexual behavior: 28%
No sexual content: 22%
Sexual intercourse depicted or implied: 10%
--
Numbers do not add up to 100% because of rounding. Los Angeles Times
*Data are based on a composite week of shows on ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, PBS, WB, Lifetime, TNT, USA and HBO that were randomly selected from October 2004 to April.
**Data are based on three weeks of prime time on ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC.
Source: Kaiser Family Foundation
Chris
November 10, 2005
Television Awash in Sex, Study Says
The report says 70% of shows include sexual content. The number has risen over the years.
By Jube Shiver Jr., Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — More than a year after federal authorities launched a crackdown on broadcast indecency, television remains so awash in sex that 7 in 10 episodes include some kind of racy content, a study released Wednesday shows.
The results from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation also found that the number of sexual scenes in sitcoms, dramas and reality shows nearly doubled since 1998, while depictions of abstinence or "safe sex" were on the wane.
However, the study found that overt sexual activity and references were far less common than talk about sex, and many of the activities it tallied consisted of banter, kissing and touching. Only 10% of the shows depicted or implied sexual intercourse, the study found.
One example cited came from "The Gilmore Girls," a WB network drama popular with teens, in which the character Lorelai Gilmore urges her daughter, Rory, to get angry after they spot her boyfriend kissing another woman on the neck in public.
"Aren't you guys sleeping together?" Lorelai asks.
"Mom, it's college…. We're both busy, you know; we have classes; we have friends. It's good to just keep things casual," Rory says.
The report also cited an episode of ABC's "Hope & Faith" in which Faith shows up for her first day of work at a dental office in stiletto heels and a low-cut nurse's outfit, aiming to seduce a male patient.
Kaiser, a nonprofit group in Menlo Park, Calif., makes no recommendations in its report. But Kaiser officials said they hoped it would focus attention on whether television influenced casual attitudes toward sex by teens, who the study estimates watch 20 hours of TV a week.
"We are not saying TV is to blame for this phenomenon," said University of Arizona communications professor Dale Kunkel, who helped conduct the study. "But research is indicating that TV has an impact."
Kaiser said it studied what its researchers considered to be a representative sampling of programs on major broadcast and cable channels. Not included were sports or children's programs, nor were some channels, such as MTV and Comedy Central, that carry a high level of sexual content.
Kaiser's sample found 3,780 scenes with sexual activity, compared with 1,930 seven years ago when it first examined the issue. In that report, 56% of the shows studied included sexual content, compared with 70% today.
Breaking down the numbers by genre on broadcast television, the study found that 91% of comedies had sexual content, compared with 87% of dramas, 73% of newsmagazine shows and 41% of reality programs.
"What we are taking is a Dow Jones industrial average of sexual content," said Vicky Rideout, a Kaiser vice president who oversaw the study.
Results were unveiled at a Washington news conference attended by Sen. Barak Obama (D-Ill.), Fox Networks Group President Tony Vinciquerra and Federal Communications Commissioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy.
Obama called on television broadcasters to improve their program ratings system by making content advisories more prominent on the TV screen. He also said TV executives should make it easier for parents to locate family-friendly shows.
"If the industry fails to act — if it fails to give parents advanced controls and new choices — Congress will," Obama said.
The government has been cracking down on broadcast indecency in the wake of singer Janet Jackson's breast-baring incident during the halftime show at the 2004 Super Bowl.
One main concern of legislators is whether the proliferation of sex on TV is contributing to teenage pregnancy. Last year, a Rand Corp. survey of 1,792 adolescents found that teens who watched a lot of sexually suggestive TV shows were almost twice as likely to have sex earlier than teens who didn't.
However, Robert J. Thompson, founder of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, noted that teen pregnancy rates soared in the U.S. long before sex became a staple of TV shows.
Still, Tony Perkins, president of the Washington-based Family Research Council, said the Kaiser study underscored the belief among many parents that television was having a coarsening effect on their kids.
"It's not the same today as when I was growing up and parents left their kids in front of the TV to watch 'Captain Kangaroo,' " Perkins said. "The sex depicted on television does have an effect on kids. If we are what we eat, then we become what we watch."
*
BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX
What's showing
Sexual content on TV has increased
Percentage of programs with any sexual content*
1998: 56%
2002: 64%
2005: 70%
--
And in prime time, every type of show had sexual content
Percentage of shows with sexual content by genre**
Movie: 100%
Comedy series: 91%
Drama series: 87%
Newsmagazine: 73%
Reality: 41%
--
Here's a breakdown of what was depicted
Percentage of shows that had the following**
Sexual talk only: 39%
Other sexual behavior: 28%
No sexual content: 22%
Sexual intercourse depicted or implied: 10%
--
Numbers do not add up to 100% because of rounding. Los Angeles Times
*Data are based on a composite week of shows on ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, PBS, WB, Lifetime, TNT, USA and HBO that were randomly selected from October 2004 to April.
**Data are based on three weeks of prime time on ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC.
Source: Kaiser Family Foundation
Chris
11-10-05, 11:13 AM
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Originally Posted by Morf
I think Jesus is rolling over in his grave.
Being a parent, you become a little bit more sensitive to the amount of sexual content on the air. But I think the fact that I watch shows with my daughter, so am there to either field questions or change the channel (if it comes to that, and it hasn't yet), bears a significant factor in any influence she may take away from prime time television.
At least, I hope so.
11-10-05, 11:27 AM
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If you look at the study on their site, any talk of abortion, stds or contraception counted as 'sex talk'. They also consider a kiss between romantically involved, nonmarried characters to be sexual behavior. In fact, sexual behavior is broken down as:
53% - passionate kiss
19% - physical flirting
13% - intimate touch
11% - sexual intercourse implied
3% - sexual intercourse depicted
1% - other
Seems like non-news to me.
53% - passionate kiss
19% - physical flirting
13% - intimate touch
11% - sexual intercourse implied
3% - sexual intercourse depicted
1% - other
Seems like non-news to me.
11-10-05, 11:50 AM
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I find it pretty sad that there always seems to be some new report/study out that discusses sex on television....but for every 10 reports about sex...you're lucky to see 1 about violence. How many shows(and top rated shows at that) are centered mostly around rape, murder, molestation, etc?
Guess I'll never understand why seeing half a breast or an exposed butt gets people in an uproar....but it's perfectly ok to show someone stick a gun 6 inches from someone's head, pull the trigger, and see a stream of blood spray out.
Guess I'll never understand why seeing half a breast or an exposed butt gets people in an uproar....but it's perfectly ok to show someone stick a gun 6 inches from someone's head, pull the trigger, and see a stream of blood spray out.
11-10-05, 03:45 PM
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Originally Posted by Josh Hinkle
So what?
No mention of the violent content.
The morals in this country are soooo bassakwards.
No mention of the violent content.
The morals in this country are soooo bassakwards.
11-10-05, 03:46 PM
#18
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Originally Posted by Toben
How can 73% of newsmagazine content be construed as being of a sexual nature? Are these people counting Naked News as a newsmagazine show or something?
the news magazines keep on writing about it, and writing about it, and writing about it
11-10-05, 03:47 PM
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Originally Posted by Toben
How can 73% of newsmagazine content be construed as being of a sexual nature?
11-10-05, 03:48 PM
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When asked to comment on why these reports on the amount of sexual content on television were only done every 3 to 4 years, reporter Jube Shiver Jr. remarked, "There's a lot of tv to watch, and I can only type so fast with one hand."
Last edited by Toben; 11-10-05 at 03:51 PM.
11-10-05, 11:31 PM
#21
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Too much sex on TV? I must be watching the wrong channel!
Mere talk of sex or kissing (!!) qualifies? Look, when FOX starts showing full fontal nudity and hardcore penetration on prime time then i can see cause for concern.
Mere talk of sex or kissing (!!) qualifies? Look, when FOX starts showing full fontal nudity and hardcore penetration on prime time then i can see cause for concern.
11-11-05, 01:35 PM
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Originally Posted by UAIOE
Look, when FOX starts showing full fontal nudity and hardcore penetration on prime time then i can see cause for concern celebrate.
11-11-05, 11:22 PM
#24
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"If the industry fails to act — if it fails to give parents advanced controls and new choices — Congress will," Obama said.
The problem is that everytime the industry gives parents the tools to make informed choices about the kind of programming they want available in their homes they never fucking use them and just sit on their fat, stupid, shiftless asses and bitch about all of the sex and violence.
Just once... just one goddamned time... I'd like to hear a politician say "It's not our job to monitor the content of television and radio programming. This is America, we have the First Amendment that guarantess free speech to everyone, free from government censorship and retribution. If you don't like a particular television program, or find it offensive to your sensibilities and values, you are free to not view it. I am not only unwilling to make those choices for you, I am bound by no less than the Constitution of the United States from doing so."
11-11-05, 11:25 PM
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Originally Posted by Josh-da-man
So Obama's taking a page from Brownback and Lieberman...
The problem is that everytime the industry gives parents the tools to make informed choices about the kind of programming they want available in their homes they never fucking use them and just sit on their fat, stupid, shiftless asses and bitch about all of the sex and violence.
The problem is that everytime the industry gives parents the tools to make informed choices about the kind of programming they want available in their homes they never fucking use them and just sit on their fat, stupid, shiftless asses and bitch about all of the sex and violence.
There are warnings and ratings for each show and there is always the v chip and most tvs/cable boxes/sat systems have parental controls to lock out channels and shows. Heaven forbid anyone take responsibility!
