Women and Television

Developed from detail derived from archival data and research interviews conducted with former BBC producer/directors Yvonne Littlewood and Susan Belbin, this article concentrates on women’s experiences within the BBC Light Entertainment group. While the principal aim of this article is to chart the historical experiences of women in this production group, it also draws attention to BBC’s relationship with women programme-makers in general, during the 1970s and 1980s.

This article analyses women’s behind the scenes employment on prime-time Spanish television series programs airing on the broadcast networks during 2012-2013. This research is particularly innovative, since there are no existing previous studies that have realized this diagnosis in relation to the Spanish TV fiction. It has been assumed that gender equality and women’s participation in the creative industries implies greater diversity and a different approach to the television content. The sample consists of 14 television series aired on prime-time in which they work 2156 professionals. The measurement methodology has involved a complete census with a distribution based on professional categories and positions of responsibility and decision.

The results show that women comprised only 31,21% of all individuals working in the Spanish television industry. In certain areas such as the technical sector, this percentage is reduced to 12,79%, whereas in other areas that have traditionally been seen as “feminine” such as costumes, make-up and hairstylist, the figure for women is 86,66%. In positions where responsibility is implied, women comprises 28,30% of all individuals. It is important to highlight that women comprised 0% of directors of photography.