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Family tv increasing sex violence { September 5 2007 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-familyhour6sep06,1,5562686.story?coll=la-headlines-businesshttp://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-familyhour6sep06,1,5562686.story?coll=la-headlines-business
From the Los Angeles Times
TV's 'family hour' is losing its innocence, study finds
Sex and violence have increased significantly in the last six years in the early prime time slots, a watchdog group says.
By Jim Puzzanghera
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
9:04 AM PDT, September 5, 2007
WASHINGTON — Sex and violence during the so-called Family Hour on broadcast TV have increased significantly during the last six years, according to a study released today by a watchdog group.
"This early prime-time block was once reserved for programs the whole family could enjoy, but it is now flooded with shows that contain adult programming," said Tim Winter, president of the Parents Television Council.
The group studied 180 hours of original programming on six broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, MyNetworkTV and the CW) during three two-week ratings sweeps periods in 2006 and 2007. It found that instances of violence had increased 52.4% since a similar study in 2000-2001 and that sexual content had increased 22.1%.
Networks argue that families have many other options for children, given the increasing number of cable and satellite channels and the ability to watch recorded shows on DVDs or digital video recorders.
But the Parents Television Council report may add fuel to the attempts by some in Congress to pass legislation allowing the Federal Communications Commission to regulate violence as well as indecent content.
The Family Hour traditionally has been from 8 to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday. Those programs are supposed to be suitable for viewing by children, and the time slot historically has been home to shows such as "The Waltons" and "The Cosby Show."
Federal indecency regulations are in effect until 10 p.m., and shows usually become edgier as the evening progresses.
But that edginess has been creeping earlier into the broadcasting schedule, and parents "can no longer count on the Family Hour to provide a safe haven," the PTC said.
The group said there was an average of one instance of violence, profanity or sexual content every 4.8 minutes during the time slot, and only 10.6% of the 208 episodes reviewed were free of objectionable content.
Fox ranked as the worst of the broadcast networks with an average of 20.78 instances of objectionable content per hour. The CW network was the best, with 9.44 instances per hour.
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