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Using a sample of 124 prime-time television programs airing on the 6 broadcast networks during the 2005-06 season, this study examined the social roles enacted by female and male characters. The findings confirm that female characters continue to inhabit interpersonal roles involved with romance, family, and friends. In contrast, male characters are more likely to enact work-related roles. Moreover, programs employing one or more women writers or creators are more likely to feature both female and male characters in interpersonal roles whereas programs employing all-male writers and creators are more likely to feature both female and male characters in work roles., According to screenwriting guru Syd Field (1994), characters inhabit professional and personal roles. A character's professional life reveals what that character does for a living. A character's personal life reflects [...]

Using situation comedies and dramas airing on the 6 broadcast networks in the 2002-2003 prime-time season, this study analyzed employment of women behind the scenes and more equitable portrayals of female and male characters. In 18 separate tests, the employment of one or more women writers, creators, or executive producers was associated with reduced on-screen gender differences in leadership, occupational power, and goal-seeking behavior, when compared to programs with all-male writers, creators, and executive producers. In 5 of 9 tests, no statistically significant gender differences regarding leadership, occupational power, and goal-seeking behavior were found when women were present behind the scenes., According to director Martha Coolidge, 'gender, being a woman, affects everything' (Gregory, 2002, p. 132). Her perspective, as well as those of others, have been colorfully archived in a spate [...]

This study examines the relationship between broadcast network scheduling practices and representation of women on screen and behind the scenes in the 1999-2000 prime-time season. Drawing on previous research of scheduling practices and organizational theory, the researchers posited and found that programs airing on the weblets (WB, UPN) employ greater percentages of women on screen and behind the scenes than the big three networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) or Fox. In addition, women working behind the scenes on the weblets correlated with higher representation of female characters when compared to the big three networks and Fox. Moreover, weblet programs featuring women on screen and behind the scenes enjoyed more favorable scheduling practices than those on the big three networks and Fox. The authors concluded that the weblets provide a more hospitable environment for women than the more established networks., Few businesses experience the rampant uncertainty of prime-time television. Two decades ago, Gitlin (1983) noted that approximately two thirds of programs in the 1980 and 1981 seasons failed. The odds [...]

Public relations practitioners can benefit by incorporating program research into their daily practice. Program research is the use of scientific methods to understand publics and their behavior toward organizations. Scientific research can be a power tool, especially for women practitioners seeking more active roles in management decision making. Although women public relations practitioners benefit more than men from use of scientific research, they are less likely than men to use it.

An update of a survey taken in 1979 of public relations practitioners collected data six years later from the initial participants on advancement from entry-level technician to management. It is shown that in 1985 managers and technicians varied only a little on years of formal education, but that most managers were male (the same as in the 1979 survey). The discrepancy cannot be attributed to a greater number of women entering the industry because the survey questioned the same people in both 1979 and 1985, and the salary differences between men and women in the same categories are referred to as 'statistically significant'. It is concluded that advancement in public relations depends considerably on the gender and professional role of the practitioner.

Considering the top 65 prime-time series in the first 14 weeks of the 1995-96 television season, this study examined the relationship between women working behind the scenes and use of powerful language by female characters. Powerful language attributes included how often female characters spoke, had the first and/or last substantive word, interrupted, and advised others. The study found somewhat inconsistent relationships between women working behind the scenes and the use of powerful televisual language patterns by female characters. Female executive producers and producers appear to be more influential in the use of powerful language than female writers or directors., Every evening, prime-time television provides its audience with constructed realities. These realities are products of multiple formative forces, including advertisers' moral and economic sensibilities, network politics, and the creative community's [...]