GLAAD reports look back and ahead at LGBT characters on broadcast and cable television

GLAAD continues to keep its eye on LGBT representation on broadcast and cable television and issued its annual reports earlier today.

With an array of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender characters like Kurt, Blaine, Santana, Brittany and Unique, Glee helped to make the FOX network the most LGBT inclusive broadcast US television network.

The 7th annual Network Responsibility Index (NRI) and the 18^th annual Where We Are on TV Report gave some networks high grades while others struggled.

‘Last season was a stellar one when it comes to the sheer number of gay, lesbian and bisexual representations on television, though diversity within those storylines showed room for improvement,’ said GLAAD spokesman Wilson Cruz.

‘Though the number of LGBT characters dropped this season, shows like The Fosters (on ABC Family), with an interracial female couple raising a family, and (transgender) characters like Unique on Glee have not only moved the conversation about LGBT people forward, but are also a hit with audiences,’ Cruz adds.

GLAAD’s index looks at the previous television season and rates networks on LGBT-inclusive content between June 2012 and May 2013.  Each network is reviewed on a scale of Excellent, Good, Adequate, or Failing.

No network received an Excellent rating this year but FOX was the most inclusive broadcast network with 42% of primetime programming hours having included LGBT images. and earning FOX a rating of Good.

ABC, with such shows as Modern Family and Grey’s Anatomy, came in second place for the number of inclusive hours at 33% and also earned a score of Good.

On the cable side of things, ABC Family was the most inclusive network with 50% of its original programming including LGBT impressions or storylines. Two of its most popular series, The Fosters and Pretty Little Liars, have gay, lesbian and bisexual characters.

Other networks that earned a ranking of Good were CW, MTV, NBC and Showtime. Rated Adequate were CBS, FX, HBO, TLC, TNT and USA while TBS and History were given a grade of Failing.

GLAAD’s Where We Are on TV report, a character count and analysis of scripted characters in the upcoming 2013-2014 season, had less encouraging news.

It found that out of 796 primetime broadcast scripted series regulars, 26 will be LGBT this year – just 3.3%. This is a drop from the record high number of LGBT series regulars (4.4%) counted on broadcast television in last year’s report.

In addition, GLAAD found 20 recurring LGBT characters, down from 25 last year.

But cable is a different story.

GLAAD counted 42 regular LGBT characters, up from 35 last season as well as an additional 24 recurring characters.

HBO will have the most characters with a total of 11, followed by Showtime with 8 characters. Of those LGBT characters, 39% are women and 29% are people of color.

“Our television images not only reach American audiences, but countless others around the world. It is time for the television networks to make new and groundbreaking LGBT stories a priority once again,” said Cruz.

To view the full reports visit http://glaad.org/tvreport13