Study: TV Sex Less Subtle, Less Often

A study released Wednesday by a conservative watchdog group found that the volume of sexual material on television during the so-called family hour from 8 to 9 p.m. has declined--but that what remains is increasingly explicit.

References to oral sex and pornography are growing more common during what the Los Angeles-based Parents Television Council called the “sour family hour,” when about 10 million children are watching TV.

Overall, the study found increasingly raunchy material during the earliest hour of prime time, with instances of violence and profanity up more than 70% from two years ago.

The report singled out such shows as NBC’s “Friends,” UPN’s “WWF Smackdown!” and--calling it “probably the most objectionable family-hour show”--Fox’s “Boston Public.”

L. Brent Bozell, the council’s president, said at a news conference that his group plans to enlist elected officials and parents in an effort to get the networks to “clean up” the public airwaves. Appearing with him were Sens. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.).

“We will also publicly shame those advertisers who market and sponsor violence, sexual raunch and vulgarity to our nation’s children.” Bozell said. “We will name names and often.”

With its high-profile supporters, the study marks the latest in a series of recent indications that Hollywood’s critics on Capitol Hill intend to attack sexual content in much the same way they have crusaded against violent entertainment.

Just last week, Brownback sponsored a forum on the effect on children of exposure to sexual content in entertainment. “While there are even more sexual depictions, innuendoes and jokes in popular entertainment than violence, there has always been less analysis and discussion of the ways in which it might affect young people,” he said at the forum. “This is a mistake.”

Lieberman’s spokesman, Dan Gerstein, said Wednesday that lawmakers think they need to frame children’s access to sexually explicit material as a public health threat as well as a morality issue.

“If you make the case that the depiction of recreational sex without consequences can lead to increased risk for sexual diseases and teen pregnancy, that takes some of the politics out of it,” Gerstein said.

The Parents Television Council analyzed sexual, violent and profane material contained in 200 hours of programming aired on broadcast networks ABC, CBS, Fox, UPN and WB during what’s known as “sweeps” rating periods in the 2000-01 season.

UPN, the only major network without an in-house standards-and-practices executive, ranked first in overall objectionable material with 18.1 instances per hour, more than double the network-wide average of 8.41. The upstart network led all others in violence and foul language. The least amount of offensive material, 3.22 instances per hour, was aired by CBS, a network known for its older audience.

NBC ranked second overall for objectionable material with a per-hour average rate of 9.1. Fox, which was rated the worst two years ago, was third with 7.8 instances. WB had 7.5 and ABC, 6.7.

Mark Honig, the council’s executive director, said the increasingly explicit depictions of sex were particularly disturbing.

“Today you tune into ‘Boston Public’ and you can see two high school students engaging in oral sex,” he said, “one of them trying to get the support of the other for a student council election.”

No one was available to comment from the office of David E. Kelley, the Emmy-winning writer who created the show about an urban public high school. Fox said in a statement: “We believe that parents have a right to make an informed decision about what their families view.”