Report finds 'slight rise' in post-watershed TV nudity

The depiction of nudity and scenes of sexual activity on the UK's five main television channels have "increased slightly since 1999", according to research carried out by the Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC), the Independent Television Commission (ITC) and the BBC.

The report, 'Depictions of Sexual Activity and Nudity on Television 2002', found that while nudity was on the rise, it has been confined to post-Watershed programming.

The report offers a snapshot of the content available to viewers at between 5.30pm and midnight on each of the five terrestrial networks, BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, Channel Four and Five. All programmes are examined but advertising and programme trails are excluded. In 2002, a total of 802 programmes were monitored, with a combined duration of almost 397 hours.

Although there has been an overall increase in the percentage of scenes involving depictions of sexual intercourse since 1997 from 6% to 14% (26 cases compared to 80 cases), this increase was boosted in 2002 by a small number of programmes which included sex as a theme.

Five factual programmes accounted for nearly 39% of all sex act scenes. Two of these were broadcast on Channel 4 ('Sex on TV' and 'The Real Linda Lovelace') and Five ('Real Sex' and 'G String Divas'). The remaining programme was on BBC2 ('Reading the Decades'), which considered the best-selling books in post-war Britain, two of which had sex as a theme and included depictions of sexual activity.

The watershed continues to be respected by broadcasters with little change in the rates of sexual activity noted before 9pm, the survey says.

There was also a significant decrease in rates of nudity shown pre-watershed, from 18% (27 programmes) in 1997 to 2% (6 programmes) in 2002.

The survey showed that one-in-five programmes monitored within the survey depicted some form of sexual activity, but most scenes (60%) are mild, usually restricted to kissing.

Speaking on behalf of the sponsors of the research, Paul Bolt, Director, Broadcasting Standards Commission, said: "This latest research and other surveys undertaken by the BSC and its research partners have shown that the use of the Watershed remains an effective way of ensuring that viewers can feel confident that pre-watershed programming does not contain material unsuitable for family viewing.

"It also shows that attitudes towards sex and sexual activity have changed over the years. People are now more comfortable with programming that contains sexual material as long as they are made aware of the material to be broadcast and that it is used within context."

(gmcg)