For Immediate Release
 
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Sean Wagner
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Study: Sex on Primetime Network Television at Lowest Level in 30 Years

TV has One-third the Amount of Sexual Content of 1970s Programming

New York – June 12, 2007 - According to a new article in Journal of Communication, a review of 28 years of primetime network television programming shows that fears of increasing sexual content on television are unfounded.

Professor Amir Hetsroni, a mass communications researcher from Yezreel Valley in Israel, compiled data from 2,500 hours of programming spanning almost 30 years. He found that sexual dialogue, passionate kissing, lovemaking and even messages about safe sex have all decreased over time, with only homosexual relations gaining more airtime. Since 2000, the average network viewer sees only a third of the sexual content that viewers would have seen in the 1970s. “To put things in perspective, consider this: in order to get a glimpse of an explicit act, one has to watch the networks for 50 hours during primetime,” says Hetsroni.

"Demands made by advocacy groups, such as the Parents Television Council and Coalition for Better TV may have convinced networks to change their content in order to avoid consumer boycotts,” says Hetsroni. Highly controversial and publicized events such as the Justin Timberlake/Janet Jackson exposure incident at the 2004 Superbowl may also be contributing to public perceptions of sexual content on the major networks.

Hetsroni also stresses the difference between network programming and specialty cable networks. “Shows that are most commonly condemned for explicit content, such as Sex in the City or Nip/Tuck are generally carried by specialty cable stations with much smaller viewing audiences,” he says. “The contentions of prominent politicians like Senator Clinton or Senator Lieberman that network television is getting more sexually explicit has no factual basis.”

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This study is published in Journal of Communication. Media wishing to receive a PDF of this article may contact journalnews@bos.blackwellpublishing.net.
 
Professor Amir Hetsroni is a mass communications researcher with the Yezreel Valley College in Israel. He can be reached for questions at amirh@yvc.ac.il or at +972-54-4975048.

Journal of Communication is the flagship journal of the International Communication Association and an essential publication for all communication specialists and policy makers. The Journal of Communication concentrates on communication research, practice, policy, and theory, bringing to its readers the latest, broadest, and most important findings in the field of communication studies. For more information, please visit www.blackwellpublishing.com/joc.

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