THE STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE U.S MEDIA 2015

Overall, by age, 59 percent of female characters were in their 20s and 30s, while 58
percent of male characters were in their 30s and 40s.
Of all characters, 3 percent of females and 4 percent of males were older than 60.
Females accounted for 46 percent of characters in programs with at least one female
writer and 39 percent of characters in shows with no female writers.
Females accounted for 47 percent of the cast in shows with at least one female creator
and 39 percent of the cast in shows with no female creators.
For a second consecutive year, the San Diego researchers—led by Martha Lauzen, the
center’s executive director—also surveyed behind-the-scenes workforces in a singular
category that combined shows on ABC, CBS, NBC, cable networks and Netflix. In that
cumulative category, these researchers concluded that in 2013-14 women were:
40 percent of producers, which was up from 38 percent in 2012-13.
26 percent of writers in 2013-14, down from 30 percent in 2012-13.
21 percent of executive producers, down from 24 percent in 2012-13.
19 percent of creators, down from 23 percent in 2012-13.
16 percent of editors, which was unchanged from 2012-13.
13 percent of directors, up from 11 percent in 2012-13.
1 percent of directors of photography, down from 2 percent in 2012-13.
The genders, ages and races of characters in that combined group were roughly the
same as they were in the major networks’ prime-time TV shows.
Directors Guild of America: Among TV series directors, fewer white
men, more men of color and little change in female ranks
The proportion of white male directors of entertainment TV series dipped from 72
percent to 69 percent between 2013-14 and 2012-13, a period when minority male
directors got more jobs and the status of white female and minority female directors
remained unchanged, according to the Directors Guild of America (DGA) analysis of
3,500 TV episodes produced during the major networks’ 2013-14 season and of more
than 220 scripted series on cable television during its 2013 season.
Lest there be any question about the difference that can be made by one person in the
decision-making role, that 3 percent surge by minority male directors owes to the work
of a single director, Tyler Perry, who directed all episodes of three TV series he also
produced. He did so on OWN, the cable network launched by Oprah Winfrey.
The Guild’s parsing of ethnicity and gender of directors hired to direct prime-time TV
episodes on the traditional, major broadcast networks, on basic and premium cable
channels and of series created solely for Internet viewing found that in 2013-14:
Males directed 86 percent of all TV episodes.
White males directed 7 out of 10 episodes.
All women and minority men, combined, directed 3 out of 10 episodes.
Men of color directed 17 percent of all episodes, an increase over the previous year.
White women directed 12 percent of all episodes, the same rate as the previous year.
Women of color directed 2 percent of all episodes, the same rate as the previous year.
WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER
44
The Status of Women in the U.S. Media 2015 TOC womensmediacenter.com