Television is Growing Ever More Profane & Vulgar
 
Television is Growing Ever More Profane & Vulgar
Written By Micah Clark   |   06.02.12
Reading Time: < 1 minute
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The Parents Television Council has a new study of broadcast television looking at the major networks. Their findings comparing a five year period finds that, across all networks, use of profanity on prime-time broadcast entertainment programming increased 69.3 percent from 2005 to 2010.

Making this news even worse, the largest increases were found in the use of the harshest profanities, and in explicit references to genitalia and bodily functions. The largest increase occurred in the 8:00 p.m – 9:00 p.m. time slot once called the “Family Hour.”

WARNING: EXPLICIT DESCRIPTIONS; SKIP IF YOU’VE ALREADY READ ENOUGH

Across all networks and prime time hours, use of the bleeped or muted f-word increased from 11 instances total in 2005 to 276 instances in 2010 – an increase of 2,409 percent.

Across all networks, use of the bleeped f-word in the Family Hour increased from 10 instances in 2005 to 111 instances in 2010 – an increase of 1,010 percent.

Across all networks and prime time hours, use of the bleeped or muted s-word increased from 11 instances in 2005 to 95 instances in 2010 – an increase of 763 percent. (This does not include CBS using a bleeped s-word in the title of its sitcom $#*! My Dad Says – or NBC’s use of a scripted, unbleeped s-word on the September 23rd episode of 30 Rock.)

The Fox broadcast network showed the greatest per-hour increase in use of profanity from 2005 to 2010, with an increase in all profanity across all prime-time hours of 269 percent.

Micah Clark
In 1989 Micah Clark graduated from Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science. Micah interned as a member of the Indiana House of Representatives’...
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