February 7, 2001. Copyright 2001. Graphic News. All rights reserved.

TV STATIONS RELY ON SEX TO ATTRACT VIEWERS

LONDON, February 7, Graphic News: THERE has been a sharp increase in the sexual content of American television shows over the last two years, with sex showing up in two out of every three programs last season, according to a new study.

Research conducted for the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation found sexual content in 68 percent of the 1999-2000 shows studied, compared with 56 percent in 1997-98.

Sexual content is even more common on primetime network programs than on television in general. Two years ago, two out of three primetime shows included sexual content.ÊToday, three out of four do.

The proportion of shows that include safer sex messages remained essentially steady at 10 percent of all shows with sexual content.ÊHowever, the study found that safer sex messages are more common in shows in which characters are involved in sexual intercourse (25 percent) and those with teens in sexual situations (17 percent).

ÒEvery time there is sex on TV, there is an opportunity to deliver useful information to young people,Ó said Kaiser Family Foundation Vice President Victoria Rideout. ÒWhile some shows are taking advantage of that opportunity, nine out of ten are not.Ó

The study also found that nine out of ten movies contained sexual content.

Except for the libido-fueled ÒTemptation IslandÓ -- which tests the fidelity of four couples separated for two weeks in a romantic setting -- the study found that ÒrealityÓ television was the least sexy genre. Only one in four reality shows in 1999-2000 included sexual content, well below the overall average.

Talk shows and soaps were the only two genres that did not show an increase in salacious content. The sexual content in soap operas dropped from 85 percent to 80 percent; in talk shows, it dropped from 78 percent to 67 percent.

In all, 1,114 broadcast and cable programs, including movies, series, soap operas, news magazines and talk shows, were randomly selected and analyzed by researchers at the University of California.

The foundation is an independent philanthropic group that studies health care, including reproductive and AIDS-related issues.
/ENDS
Sources: Kaiser Family Foundation, Associated Press