TV Shows Getting Steamier

Feb. 5, 2003 - Not only is the sex on television getting hotter and heavier, but the kind of sex that makes the censors squirm is also happening more often. At the same time, so are frank discussions about the risks and consequences of sex, according to a new study.

Researchers found that two-thirds of all TV shows in the 2001-02 season contained sexual content. Although that is actually a bit less overall than the amount found two years ago, the percentage of shows containing sexual intercourse has grown significantly from 10% in the 1999-2000 season to 14%, or one in every seven shows, last season.

The most popular television shows among teens, however, proved even steamier. A large majority of these shows (85%) included at least some sexual content, such as talking about sex, and one in five depicted sexual intercourse.

But those shows were also the most likely to include a reference to safer sex issues like using protection, waiting to have sex or the responsibilities associated with sexual behavior. Forty-five percent of the top 20 most popular shows among teens with sexual content had these types of references compared to only 15% of TV shows overall.

Shows involving teen characters were also more likely than others to include safer sex talk than others.

In addition, mentions of safer sex behavior were more common among shows with more explicit sexual content, such as those that directly talk about or depict sexual intercourse. Twenty-six percent of these shows contained safer sex references last season, up from 17% in the 1999-2000 season.

The study was conducted for the Kaiser Family Foundation by Dale Kunkel, PhD, of the University of California, Santa Barbara and looked at a broad sample of 1,123 television shows, including a range of programming genres that excluded newscasts, sporting events, and children's shows.

Researchers say the average American teen watches about three hours of TV a day. Although many studies have looked at the effects of watching violence on TV on children's behavior, less is known about how watching sexual content on TV affects teens.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, three out of four teenagers say that TV influences the sexual behaviors of kids their age, and one in four admits it influences their own behavior.

But researchers say TV can also be a valuable source of information for teens, especially when it comes to hard to talk about issues like sex. More than half of teenagers say they have learned important information about sexual health from TV and say they've gotten helpful ideas from TV about how to talk about safer sex with a partner.

SOURCE: Kaiser Family Foundation Study, "Sex on TV 3: Content and Context," Feb. 4, 2003.