Summary
The "Boxed In" survey reveals that younger streaming services have surpassed traditional broadcast networks in terms of female representation among creators, directors, and editors in the television industry. While women accounted for 30% of creators and 52% of major characters on streaming platforms, broadcast networks showed lower figures, indicating a stagnation in progress over the past 15 years. Additionally, the report highlights the underrepresentation of older women and diversity among female characters, as well as a slight decrease in the percentage of women in key production roles on streaming services.
Key Points
Female Representation in Production
- In the 2020-21 television season, women represented 30% of creators, 31% of directors, and 24% of editors on streaming programs, compared to 22% of creators, 19% of directors, and 15% of editors on broadcast networks.
- Streaming services have made greater strides in gender equity compared to traditional broadcast networks, which have seen minimal change over 15 years.
Female Characters on Screen
- Streaming programs featured 52% of major characters as women, while broadcast networks showed only 45%.
- The representation of female characters of different ethnic backgrounds varied, with 20% of female characters on streamers being Black and 6% Latina, while networks had slightly higher percentages at 23% Black and 8% Latina.
- Female characters aged 60 and over were scarce, with only 4% representation on networks and 3% on streaming platforms.
Trends Over Time
- Despite initial improvements, women’s representation in key behind-the-scenes roles at streaming services dropped from 35% in 2019-2020 to 33% in 2020-2021.
Conversely, broadcast networks recorded a slight increase from 30% to 31% in female employment
