Posted on 02/08/2005 6:40:35 AM PST by Ellesu
Almost 50% of Viewers Pick "Ellen" as their Favorite Performer: New Study of Gay/Lesbian TV viewership behavior and pretences released from GLCensus Partners - Syracuse University & OpusComm Group.
-Nearly 70% of lesbians watch "The L Word" -Almost 50% of viewers pick "Ellen" as their favorite performer -Over 95% find "Six Feet Under" as the most accurate gay portrayal
Syracuse, NY (PRWEB) February 8, 2005 -- Gay men are from Mars and lesbians are from Venus when it comes to picking their favorite TV. Men gravitate toward shows featuring guys: Queer as Folk and Will & Grace; women go for "chick" shows: The L Word and The Ellen Show.
While 32% of women say The L Word is their favorite show, .5% of men do. And Queer as Folk was the favorite of 26% of the men, but 10.2% of the women. Overall, 69.9% of women watch The L Word, compared to 22.4% of men, according to a new online study conducted Dec. 10-15 by GLCensus Partners, a research partnership between OpusComm Group and S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
No matter what show they did pick, many of the 2,149 GLBT respondents are ambivalent about their image in the medium.
Case in point: Jack McFarland. The flamboyant, over-the-top character from Will & Grace was the No. 1 pick for both "most favorite" and "negative portrayal." The show was a top five favorite for both men and women, but with reservations.
"I enjoy Will & Grace despite the fact that it is one long series of gay jokes," said one respondent. "If Jack were a monogamous homebody like me, there would be no ratings and no show," said another. One respondent summed it up: "Although Jack on Will & Grace portrays the worst of the stereotype of gay men, he is still the funniest of all the gay TV characters. Though I despise the stereotype, I love his comedic talents. Go figure."
Those mixed emotions also are manifested in the fact that 47% of respondents couldn’t pick their least favorite show that featured either a GLBT character or GLBT participant in a leading role.
"This leads me to believe that the GLBT respondents are partial to GLBT shows in general, but that they also are concerned with how they are being portrayed," said Jeff Garber, president of OpusComm Group. "Early on, they were just happy to be included. Now they want what they believe to be a fair representation."
Glennda Testone media director of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) agrees. "It's clear that gay and lesbian viewers are expecting a more sophisticated approach to media images of our lives – and this research bears that out," said Testone. "We need to see more stories where our experiences with relationships, family and sexuality combine to create three-dimensional characters that reflect the everyday reality of who we are."
Respondents echoed that feeling: "It would be great to see gay characters in the leading roles on prime time channels ... Something where the relationship of the main characters is treated just like any other normal relationship." Also: "Television has come along way with its portrayal of gays and lesbians in our culture but still has a long way to go … we are still the ‘funny character’ on shows."
The level of consciousness is not the same across the board. Said one respondent: "I'm just so happy that mainstream TV is finally starting to depict real gay characters. I have struggled for years with feeling like I can't relate to characters, like I don't belong. This new trend has gotten me interested in TV again."
Full text version of release can be found on: http://www.glcensus.org/press/2005-02-07.html
The GLCensus Partners is a partnership between the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, and advertising and public relations firm OpusComm Group, Inc., which specializes in consultation of sensitivity issues and market plan development for all types of advertisers to target the GLBT community.
For further information and to review a full summary of the "Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online Census", contact Jeffrey Garber, president of OpusComm Group at e-mail protected from spam bots (315) 637-2018 or visit www.glcensus.org.
Try to sell the networks on a show featuring a Black man who eats watermelon and fried chicken and tap dances at the drop of a hat. He can even roll his eyes, and say amusing things like "Feets, do yo' stuff!"
Homosexuals don't even see that they've turned themselves into pathetic jokes. Black folk (mostly) figured it out a long time ago and demanded that it stop.
< "I'm just so happy that mainstream TV is finally starting to depict real gay characters. I have struggled for years with feeling like I can't relate to characters, like I don't belong. This new trend has gotten me interested in TV again." >
Which is exactly why I DON"T watch anymore. A few years ago I gave up on the alphabet channels. I changed over to my main TV watching becoming DIY programs. Now I'm watching THEM less and less. "Welcome to Trading Spaces. This is Bob and his partner Tim..." Oh, Geeze.
No thanks. I took up the violin a couple of years ago. I don't need no stinkin' TV.
(Disclaimer: except for FNC.)
And they had to take a survey to find this out?
Well, this explains how Will and Grace stays on the air. Sweet merciful crap, that show sucks...
But Big Gay Al is still "super".
If supposedly straight people didn't watch these pitiful shows, they wouldn't be on. Two percent of the population is a very small pool of viewers.
Exactly, I have never watched Ellen or Queer Eye and have never even heard of the other shows mentioned. Unless it is a sports show or a news special, I do not watch network TV. When our TV is on, it's usually Fox news.
TV is just worthless. Remember back a while ago when the Neilsen Company discovered that men 18-35 dropped out of TV watching? Maybe they got sick and tired of watching fat, dumb guys in flannel shirts over their t-shirts acting like morons with their shapely, common sense, superior spouse/girfriend. Or maybe all the queer eye, homosexual promoting stuff was just too obnoxious. Either way, most TV stinks. Is it any wonder many have left the old, boring, in-your-face, Hollywood writers and TV media behind?
I couldn't agree more. Men are portrayed as fat, lazy and stupid, wimpy or gay. Who exactly is this supposed to appeal to? I find it neither funny or entertaining.
"I know what you mean. I used to watch HGTV (Home & Garden) quite a bit. They had some good renovation shows. Then I noticed that more & more of the couples were queer. It got to the point where you realize how overrepresented they are and that someone must be pushing for them."
We've actually written and complained. HGTV went as far as to call me a bigot one time and on another email told me the network didn't have control over who's homes were chosen for the makeovers.
"It would be great to see gay characters in the leading roles on prime time channels ... Something where the relationship of the main characters is treated just like any other normal relationship." Like maybe the "normal" relationships promoted by NAMBLA? http://216.220.97.17/
NAMBLA says, "Freedom is indivisible. The liberation of children, women, boy-lovers, and homosexuals in general, can occur only as complementary facets of the same dream. -- David Thorstad"
You have that right.
"it got to the point where you realize how over represented they(gays)are."Good point TJ.Someone is pushing them aka homosexual agenda. Things got really bad on the "E" channel when they showed the Ellen DeGeneres(sp?)bio nonstop for a week or so.Of course the main point of the "show"was Ellen's brave and determined struggle against homophobia,and Ellen's rise to fame and acceptance by society against all odds.I watch a few cable channels and fox news.The rest is junk.
Glennda Testone?!?!? (smirk...)
"Over 95% find "Six Feet Under" as the most accurate gay portrayal"
Well - given that homosexual men live an average of 25 years less than normal men, and given the sky-rocketing rates of AIDS among the sodomites, I'd say "Six Feet Under" is indeed a pretty accurate portrayal...
Dude...get a life.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.