Sex scenes on TV have almost doubled since 1998, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study released Wednesday.
According to the study of 1,000 hours of all genres of programming–excluding news, sports, and kids shows–across the four major broadcast nets, several top cable nets and a couple of stations, 70% of shows had some sexual content, averaging 5 sex scenes per hour.
Source: Broadcasting & Cable
This is not the reason why NewMexiKen bought a new TV over the weekend. I’ve got nothing against sex on TV. I just think there should be sex shows and non-sex shows and no overlap, yet “70% of the surveyed shows had some sexual content.” (RHETORICAL QUESTION ALERT) Why?
I wonder… Does the “some sexual content” include when they investigate a rape on one of the crime drama shows?
If so, that’s a very broad brush to paint with. There’s a difference between sexual content when used as a five-minute filler where they don’t have enough real plotline and showing the investigation (and prosecution) of a criminal act.
True enough, Off Colfax, not all television sex is salacious, sensational or even gratuitous. But 70% of shows?
Ken, after reading the PDF copy of the report, I’ve come to two conclusions. One, the writer from Broadcast & Cable cooked the numbers to make it sound more sensational. And two, the writers of the study cooked the numbers (or, more precisely, their definitions, which in turn cooked the numbers) to make it sound more sensational.
And now to dive into my Blogger account so I can put this up in full form.