REPORTS

The Blue Tube: Foul Language on Prime Time Network TV
A PTC State of the Television Industry Report 

Executive Summary

This is the second of the Parents Television Council's planned series of three reports looking at the State of the Television Industry.  In the first, examining sex on TV, the PTC found that sexual content, while less frequent overall, has become more explicit.  This report examines foul language on television. 

During the 2002-2003 season, the broadcast networks attempted to rewrite the book on language standards for television.  In January, viewers heard U2's Bono use the "f-word" unedited during the Family Hour on NBC.  Over on ABC, detectives on NYPD Blue added the term "bulls—t" to TV's vocabulary. 

It should then come as no surprise that this report found an increase in foul language in 2002 on virtually every network and in virtually every time slot – including the so-called "Family Hour" of 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.

PTC analysts examined all prime time entertainment series on the major broadcast television networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, UPN and the WB) from the first two weeks of the 1998, 2000, and 2002 November sweeps periods for a total of 400 program hours.

Major Findings Include:

• There was an overall increase in foul language in every timeslot between 1998 and 2002.  Foul language during the Family Hour increased by 94.8% between 1998 and 2002 and by 109.1% during the 9:00 p.m. ET/PT time slot. Ironically, the smallest increase (38.7%) occurred during the last hour of prime time – the hour when young children are least likely to be in the viewing audience.   The good news is that there were some minor qualitative improvements.  That is, in every time slot, mild oaths and curses ("hell" and "damn") comprised a larger share of the foul language in 2002 than in 1998, which means that harsher foul language became marginally less prominent.

• Fox, surprisingly, was the only broadcast network to show any real improvement during the Family Hour.  Foul language during Fox's Family Hour decreased by 25% between 1998 and 2002, going from a per hour rate of 7.44 to 5.58.  That improvement was offset by a spike in foul language during the second hour of prime time, where foul language became 75.3% more frequent from 1998 to 2002.

• Overall, offensive language on ABC decreased by 17% between 1998 and 2002, largely because of quantitative improvements during the last two hours of prime time (9:00 -11:00 p.m. ET/PT). 

• Unfortunately for family audiences, foul language increased during ABC's Family Hour by 61.7% between 1998 and 2002.  Not only was there a quantitative increase in foul language during the Family Hour on ABC, but the language heard on the network became coarser between 1998 and 2002.

• Foul language was much more frequent, however, during the first two hours of prime time on CBS.  Foul language during the Family Hour on CBS has increased from a per hour rate of 1.29 in 1998 to 7.37 in 2002 -- an astounding increase of 471.3%.  CBS made some qualitative improvements during the Family Hour. Scatological language was 13% less frequent in 2002 than in 1998; offensive epithets were also 13% less frequent.  The comparatively mild intensives "hell" and "damn" became 24% more frequent during that period.

• Foul language on NBC went up across the board, in every study period and every time slot. Between 1998 and 2002, foul language shot up 114.7% during the Family Hour, 59.4% during the 9:00 p.m. ET/PT time slot, and 174% in the 10:00 p.m. ET/PT time slot.

• Offensive language on UPN increased by 104.7% between 1998 and 2002 during the Family Hour and by a staggering 538% during the second hour of prime time.

• The teen-targeted WB network had a 188% increase in foul language during the Family Hour between 1998 and 2002.  Such language increased by 308.5% during the second hour of prime time.

It's easy to be dismissive of foul language on TV, but it does have an impact.  Ultimately, the entertainment industry needs to get serious about reducing the flood of vulgarity coming into the family home over the broadcast airwaves.  Barring that, the FCC needs to get serious about enforcing broadcast decency laws and punishing broadcasters who violate those laws.

Full Report | Statistical Appendix