The presence of women in audiovisual media is slightly higher in 2017, mainly thanks to public service media

On the occasion of International Women's Day and for the third consecutive year, TV and radio broadcasters have provided the French Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel (CSA) with quantitative and qualitative indicators on the representation of women and men in their programmes. The presence of women was slightly up on the airwaves in 2017, mainly thanks to the public service channels.

The study concludes that:

• The presence of women is slightly higher in programmes - both TV and radio – compared to 2016 (40% or +2 points)

• The same conclusion goes for the rate of female experts (+5 points) compared to 2016 (35% female experts vs. 65% male experts) whose share is much higher on general-interest public service channels compared to private general-interest channels (41% vs. 27%)

• A significant increase in the rate of female experts on radio (+8 points) compared to 2016 (37% vs. 29%)

• The "political guest" category is the one where women are least represented (27%) with a significant decrease compared to 2016 (-5 points), for both TV and radio.

The actions envisaged by the CSA in this field in 2018 are the following:

• Carry out a study on the representation of women in the most viewed programmes in media falling under the scope of regulation of the CSA.

• Undertake, within the framework of the Network of Mediterranean Regulators (NMRA), a study on the processing of information on gender-based violence.

• Carry out a study on the image of women in music videos and engage in a constructive dialogue with the music sector.

In addition, in October 2017 the CSA also published a study on the representation of women in TV advertising.

Gender issues will feature on EPRA's agenda in 2018 with an annual Working Group on Achieving greater Diversity in Broadcasting.

• Press release (FR)
• The representation of women on TV and radio report (FR)

Source: French CSA Website