Sex on American Television: An Analysis Across Program Genres and Network Types

Abstract

As part of a larger study on television exposure, 1,276 shows from the 2001-2002 television season were coded for sexual content. Compared to previous research, this study sampled more networks targeted to adolescents and examined differences across additional program genres. A unique feature is the assessment of sexual content across network types. Three genres were distinguished by high percentages of shows with sexual behavior and talk and greater explicitness. This pattern characterized premium cable movie channels compared to broadcast and other cable networks. Few genres consistently offer programming that is free of sexual content during peak times for teen viewing.

Sexualizing Sarah Palin

“…In the past three decades, there has been a substantial increase in the amount of sexually-oriented talk and action in television shows, with an amplification of such content, especially in less regulated cable programming (Fisher et al 2004;Greenberg and Busselle 1994;Kunkel et al 1996). Nearly 70% of television programs during the 1999-2000 season contained some form of sexual content compared to just 56% in the 1997-1998 season, with a leap in sexualized sitcoms from 56% of the total to 84% (Keveney 2001).…”

Sex and Shock Jocks: An Analysis of the Howard Stern and Bob & Tom Shows

“…Kunkel et al (2001) found that the percentage of television programs with sexual content increased from 56% during the 1997/1998 season to 68% during the 1999/2000 season. In a study of 2001 television programming, Fisher et al (2004) found that 78.8% of broadcast network programming contained sexual content. Over 95% of the movies airing on premium cable channels contained sexual content, as did feature films shown on the commercial television networks.…”

Representaciones de la sexualidad femenina en la ficción televisiva española

“…By and large, it can be stated that the sample of representations offer a distorted image of sexuality (Al-Sayed and Gunter, 2012;Fisher et al, 2004;Kunkel et al, 1999Kunkel et al, , 2001Kunkel et al, , 2003Kunkel et al, , 2005Signorielli, 2000), even though there are noticeable differences in this respect across genres and formats. The drama genre and the soap opera format pay closer attention to the didactic aspect of sexuality than the rest of the analyzed television fiction series (Al-Sayed & Gunter, 2012;Lacalle, 2013), especially the series set in the past and broadcast by the public channels La 1 and TV3.…”

“…Content analyses of sex representations reinforce the idea that television fiction offers a distorted image of sexuality (Al-Sayed and Gunter, 2012;Fisher et al, 2004;Kunkel et al, 1999Kunkel et al, , 2001Kunkel et al, , 2003Kunkel et al, , 2005Signorielli, 2000), which plays an important role in the construction and reinforcement of gender stereotypes (Behm-Morawitz and Mastro, 2008;Eyal and Finnerty, 2007;Lauzen et al, 2008;Merskin, 2007;Ward, 1995). On the other hand, some of the research works carried out by Signorielli and Bacue (1999), and Signorielli and Kalhenberg (2001) stress the didactic potential of television fiction in relation to sex and stereotypes, despite cultivation theory scholars tend to perceive television as a conservative medium.…”