What do we want? When do we want it?

Much of this blog so far has focused on criticising current broadcasting standards and exploring the effects of this on LGB audiences within a trans-media landscape. Now I want to take a look at what LGB audiences actually watch. For the first time in 2013, the BBC included a new question in it’s Audience Research Survey - it asked if the participant was lesbian, gay or bisexual. Out of 20,000 respondents, 1,000 answered yes to the question. The BBC then took this data and compiled a series of graphs pointing to what these audiences enjoy watching. The results didn't exactly break out of expectations with the most popular show for gay/ bisexual men in the 16-34 category being ITV’s Vicious (2013-) (BBC, 2013), a show staring two gay protagonists. The BBC were enthusiastic about the findings, writing (Ruth, 2013):

The results make for fascinating reading. They confirm that LGB audiences are drawn to LGB (or gay-friendly) talent and portrayal – whether as presenters or contestants (Great British Bake Off, Alan Carr, Celebrity Big Brother), subjects, actors or characters (Downton Abbey, Being Human,Modern Family, Vicious, Glee, Kenny Everett and the soaps).

Mark Lawson (2013) takes a more cynical approach noting that the finding “may be about as surprising as the revelation that the Pope had been caught watching tapes of Songs Of Praise.”. What Lawson does raise though are important issues surrounding how useful these findings actually are and why they were requested in the first place. The BBC claim that it is their duty, as a PSB, to serve all licence fee payers. While these findings do reveal that LGB (the BBC's decision to leave out the T due to claiming another study would be done for transgender audiences) audiences have different tastes than that of their straight counterparts, as I have mentioned earlier there is a problem with labelling a programme as LGB friendly in that a) it has the tendency to discourage hetrosexual viewers (Becker, 2006) and b) it risks narrowly defining the tastes of this varied and vast audience, many of whom may not have come-out and many not have responded as lesbian, gay or bisexual in the survey itself. Lawson brings us back to my earlier post on what I termed ‘The Paradox’ in which:

The days of "don't ask, don't tell" had many faults but a policy of "do ask, do tell" – for audiences and performers – has the potential to confine diverse subject matter to niche shows rather than the mainstream.

In the time between the publishing of these results and now there has been little change in attitudes towards on-screen portrayals of gay protagonists, evidenced by their sheer lack of them on TV (Cain, 2015) despite numerous studies pointing clearing towards an increasingly diverse and tolerant society (Reid, 2014). When on screen homosexuality/ bisexuality is approached, i.e. Captain Jack in Torchwood or Johnny Carter in Eastenders, there is still a tip-toeing around creating gay characters that are dislikable or with just as complex a personality as many characters of hetrosexual orientation within shows such as Broadchurch (ITV, 2013-), Wolff Hall (2015-) or Call the Midwife (BBC, 2012-). The finishing of the first series of Russell T. Davis’s new show last week wasn’t the ratings hit Channel 4 were hoping for (Lucas, 2015) but is this an indication that gay protagonists don’t appeal to straight audiences or has it simply highlighted the problem with targeting an LGB audience?

Bibliography:

BBC. (2013). LGB Audence Resrearch Charts. British Broadcasting Corporation. [Online]. Available at: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01k8rjg/p01k8s8f. [Accessed 27/02/15].

Becker, R. (2006) Gay TV: Straight America. Piscataway: Rutgers University Press.

Cain, M. (2015). Why is television still ignoring gay lives?. The Independent. January 03 2015. [Online]. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/why-is-television-still-ignoring-gay-lives-9955101.html. [Accessed 20/02/15].

Lawson, M. (2013). Revelation that gay audiences like Vicious, Bake Off and Splash! risks perpetuating gay stereotypes. The Guardian. October 31 2013. [Online]. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2013/oct/31/gay-audiences-vicious-bake-off-splash. [Accessed 01/03/15].

Lucas, J. P. Cucumber is disappointing TV – which is why we need more gay dramas. The Guardian. February 5 2015. [Online]. Available at:http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/feb/05/cucumber-not-very-good-need-more-gay-tv. [Accessed 04/03/15].

Reid, S. (2014). Stigma and discrimination – are attitudes changing?. NatCen Social Research. November 27 2014. [Online]. Available at:http://www.natcen.ac.uk/blog/stigma-and-discrimination-%E2%80%93-are-attitudes-changing. [Accessed 02/03/15].

Ruth, A. (2013). What do lesbian, gay and bisexual audiences really watch on TV?. BBC. October 25 2013. [Online]. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/entries/424be06c-fa08-3409-8341-c55490f52d07. [Accessed 27/02/15].