By Mike Pulfer
The Cincinnati Enquirer

American television still depicts plenty of sex and sexual situations, but the industry is showing signs it's becoming more responsible.

In its third biennial study of TV shows - 1,123 of them on 10 network and cable channels - the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation says it found more references than ever to "safer sex" topics, including sex protection, consequences of sex and postponement of sexual activity.

SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights from Sex on TV 3, which monitored everything except sporting events, news and children's television: • 83% of teenagers' favorite shows include some sexual content. • 49% of them include sexual behavior. • 20% of them include sexual intercourse. • 64% of television shows overall have some sexual content. • 14% include sexual intercourse, depicted or strongly implied. • 15% of shows with sexual content include safer-sex references. • 26% of shows with sexual intercourse include safer-sex references. • 34% of shows that include sexual conduct by teen characters include safer-sex references. • Among examples of "safer-sex" content, some shows portrayed or discussed characters with HIV/AIDS, unwanted pregnancies and contraception. Others involved characters waiting to have sex.

Among shows with sexual content - including talk about sex and sexual behavior - 15 percent included at least one reference to safer sex. That's up from 10 percent in the last study two years ago.

Even more promising, the foundation says, is this: Among teenagers' top 20 shows, 45 percent of the episodes that included sexual intercourse (discussed or depicted) included references to safe sex.

Told of the survey results, which are being made public today, Dr. Malcolm P. Adcock, Cincinnati health commissioner, said: "We're probably making some progress. Any move in that direction - in helping teens understand the risks and the need to postpone and exercise abstinence - is a move in the right direction.

"If it's (responsibility) going to be accepted as a norm, it really needs to become a part of our culture. ... And, whether we like it or not, TV and movies really reflect our culture and are part of our culture."

And whether we like it or not, sex appears to be rampant among the programs teens watch. Eighty-three percent of their top 20 shows included sexual content, 20 percent of them dealing in some way with intercourse, the Kaiser study showed.

Fourteen percent of all shows include sexual intercourse, compared with 10 percent two years ago. Overall, sexual content on television shows remained steady, at 64 percent, compared with 68 percent two years ago.

Dr. Rebecca Sutherland Borah, who teaches a course on censorship at the University of Cincinnati, says the survey results confirm her impressions of TV geared toward teens.

Shows aimed at "people that age ... there's going to be some sexual content," she says. "If they're not talking about cars, they're talking about sex.

"What kind of bothers me is the trickle-down effect," she said. "It seems like the audience is getting younger and younger. ... If we looked at (pre-teen) kids' shows, would we have (sex) things showing up there?"

The survey did not include children's television.

Including more references to safe sex isn't good enough for many Tristate parents and church youth leaders.

"It does appear to be an improvement," says Sarah Miller, who works with young people at West Chester Presbyterian Church. "But this is still not the message we want to send to our kids. From a Christianity standpoint, we don't follow safe-sex teachings. It's abstinence till marriage."

SAFE SEX MESSAGE

Percentages of television categories with sexual content; and, of those shows with sexual content, percentage with safer sex messages:

Soap operas 96 17 Movies 87 18 Comedies 73 8 Dramas 71 18 Talk shows 65 28 News magazines 53 6 Reality shows 28 21

Vicky Rideout, a Kaiser vice president who directed the "Sex on TV 3" study, said its goal has been "to draw Hollywood's attention to the impact that sexual content has on young people (and) the opportunity they (producers) have to play a positive role." Copies of the report go to legislators and other policymakers and "groups that work on adolescent health issues."

"It's like a Dow Jones Industrial Average of what's happening with sex on television," she said. "I think people have paid good attention ever since we started doing it (1999). ... It certainly has gotten the attention of the television industry."

"That's encouraging that there has been some improvement," said Bill Fee, general manager at WCPO-TV (Channel 9).

"Hollywood has been getting considerable pressure from advocacy groups to change for quite some time. I'm glad to see they have responded favorably."

Still, he said, "It's a shame that those (sex) conversations have to take place at all on network television."

Parents watch

"My daughters are 12 and 14 years old, and the programs that they watch handle sexual relations very well," says Sherry Steinbeck, Anderson Township. Among them: Gilmore Girls (8 p.m. Tuesdays, Channel 64), American Dreams (8 p.m. Sundays, Channels 5, 22) and Friends (8 p.m. Thursdays, Channels 5, 22; 7 p.m., 7:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, Channel 19; 7 p.m. Monday-Friday, WTBS).

"I try to watch with them, and I have no problem with how it is handled."

But other parents said they did not like the way it is handled and that they have not seen signs of improvement.

TEENS' FAVORITE SHOWS

Teenagers' favorite shows in the 2001-02 television season, in order of popularity: • Malcolm in the Middle • The Simpsons • Bernie Mac • Friends • Greg the Bunny • Fear Factor • Survivor • Titus • 7th Heaven • King of the Hill • Grounded for Life • That '70s Show • Wonderful World of Disney • Andy Richter Controls the Universe • CSI • WWF Entertainment • Undeclared • That '80s Show • WWF Smackdown • Boston Public Source: Nielsen Media Research

"My impression is that the sexual content on TV keeps getting worse," says Karen Diehl of Camp Dennison. "Unfortunately, broadcast TV seems like it's trying to catch up with the stuff on cable and satellite.

"It seems many programs treat sex like something as casual as eating."

She did credit ER (10 p.m. Thursdays, Channels 5, 22) and Law and Order (10 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays, Channels 5, 22) for integrating warnings on sex and violence.

"Sex is rampant in the music and TV industries," says Ken Kinch, a parent and teacher from West Chester Township. "The media portray it as glamorous. ... What it does is send a lot of kids the wrong message.

Kevin Wisbeth, 13, and his brother Nick, 15, of Lebanon say they watch a "fair amount" of TV but that sexual content doesn't affect decisions about what to watch.

"I watch Malcolm in the Middle sometimes," says Kevin, "but (sexual references) doesn't bother me."

Nick says he likes to watch The Simpsons and The Drew Carey Show. Do the references to sex on TV bother him? "No," he says. "I don't really care about it."

"I have noticed," says their mom, Michele, "that if they see something that's too obvious, they'll become frustrated and change the channel."

She says her family has regular discussions about sexual matters and she believes they take the "giggle and watch" factor out of shows with sex-related content.

Borah, the pop culture and language arts specialist at UC, says she prefers sexual content on TV to excessive violence.

"If it's sexual innuendo, if it's not too serious, I would prefer that ..."

She wonders, too, if television violence hasn't taken a back seat to sexual material since 9-11.

"I have to think that maybe it's easier (for television executives) to deal with sex than ... violence.

"There's been kind of a lull in that (violence), and TV people must think, `We've got to do something, or it's going to get boring real quick.' "

E-mail mpulfer@enquirer.com

About the survey

Sex on TV 3 was conducted for the Kaiser Family Foundation by Professor Dale Kunkel and students and colleagues at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Teams of coders were trained as long as 80 hours on taping, coding and scientific methodology for reliability and consistency, according to Vicky Rideout, who directed the report.

The study was based on television programs monitored from October 2001 through March 2002. It included all genres with the exceptions of daily newscasts, sports events and children's shows.

The 10 channels in the study represent broadcast networks, syndicated programming, public television, basic cable and premium cable. Included in the survey: ABC, CBS, Fox, HBO, Lifetime, NBC, TNT, PBS, USA and the WB affiliate in Los Angeles, KTLA.

For a free copy, call (800) 656-4533 or go to www.kff.org. Ask for publication 3324.