A new study confirms what many women in TV production already suspect: males continue to outnumber females when it comes to how reality shows are made.
Men make up 58.4% of executive producers, supervising producers, and show creators, while women only make up 41.5%, according to a study commissioned by the Geena Davis Institute, Banijay Entertainment and Everywoman Studios.
Across the United States, U.K., Brazil and France, three in four reality TV creators are men (73.7% compared with 25.7% women). This gender difference among creators is most pronounced in the U.S. (80.6% men compared with 16.1% women), the study says.
The study was produced over three years (2021–2023) in those four countries. Shows in the study were limited to those that either have consistent stars or contestants throughout the season or series, or a consistent story told over the course of several episodes. This includes shows from the Real Housewives franchise and Below Deck, along with documentary series like Surviving R. Kelly, and competition shows like Lego Masters and MasterChef.
There is some good news: across the U.S., the United Kingdom, Brazil, and France, the percentage of female executive producers has increased nearly 10 percentage points from 36.6% in 2021 to 46.0% in 2023. There is also more gender parity among supervising producers (50.9% men and 49.1% women) in all four countries.
“We have so many legacy formats that were created almost 25 years ago by men,” said Tiffany Faigus, SVP, unscripted and alternative entertainment for ABC Entertainment and Walt Disney TV. She, along with Endemol Shine North America CEO Sharon Levy and Netflix unscripted series director Sahara Bushue, participated in a discussion at the Skirball Cultural Center Tuesday that accompanied the release of the study.
“Now it’s just imperative that those formats stand the test of time [and we] put more females in showrunner positions to take over,” continued Faigus, who oversees unscripted shows like The Bachelor franchise (which is run by two men and one woman) and Dancing With The Stars (which is run by a man). “We have become much better with that. Women tend to be more like executioners. That’s not a bad thing. We just like to get things done instead of saying, ‘I came up with that idea now go make it.’”
“It’s hard to get in the door,” added Sharon Levy, CEO Endemol Shine North America, of women creators. “You’re on the hamster wheel. That is also a problem. How are we making sure we are hearing from enough women creators?”
“We have to help each other out,” added Levy about finding the next Allison Grodner or SallyAnn Salsano. “It’s on me to serve up those candidates and it’s up to you [the networks] to hire them. It is changing for the better. Something like this [study] highlights it and makes us think …if someone says to me ‘she’s really good, you need to hear this.’ I’m gonna say yes.”
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