The Change Mariner

Study: Television Violence on the Rise

MiamiHerald:
The study by the Parents Television Council counted 534 separate episodes of prime-time violence on the six major broadcast networks during the first two weeks of the November ratings "sweeps" in 2002. That was up from 292 violent incidents during the same period four years earlier, the organization said.

Although the study is slightly outdated, the PTC says preliminary data from last month shows the trend toward increased violence is continuing.

The violence is getting more serious, too. The study found 156 incidents where guns or other weapons were used during the two-week period in prime-time in 2002, up from 67 four years earlier.

"In both quantity and quality it is getting worse," said Brent Bozell, founder of the conservative media watchdog group. "I think it is a cause for concern."

Fox narrowly beat CBS, 151 to 148, for having the most violent incidents, the PTC said, even though Fox broadcasts an hour less each night than ABC, CBS and NBC. Fox executives say they never comment on PTC studies, although they privately note that some of their more violent shows in 2002 have since been canceled.

Four of the networks - ABC, Fox, the WB and UPN - had more than double the violent incidents in 2002 than they had four years earlier, the study said.

NBC was the only network where the level of violence went down, from 51 in 1998 to 42 last year, the PTC said.

During the four-year period, CBS' forensics drama, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," became the nation's most popular television program. CBS has already completed one spin-off of its most successful show and is planning another.

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