Men significantly outnumber women in reality television production, according to a new study on gender disparity in reality television.

The report, titled ‘Behind the Scenes: Women’s Representation in Unscripted Television in the US, UK, Brazil, and France’ was published this week by Banijay Entertainment, Everywoman Studios, and The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (GDI).

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Study reveals women are under-represented in reality TV leadership roles

Overall, it found that men make up 58.4% of executive producers, supervising producers, and creators, compared to 41.5% of women.

Three in four reality TV creators are men (73.7% compared with 25.7% female), with the gender difference most pronounced in the US (80.6% male compared with 16.1% female).

More positively, the percentage of female executive producers has increased nearly 10% from 2021 to 2023 — from 36.6% to 46.0%. There is near-gender parity among supervising producers (50.9% male and 49.1% female).

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The study spanned the three years from 2021 to 2023 and illustrates the historic under-representation of women in unscripted creative leadership roles.

It found that change in gender dynamics is “slow and inconsistent” across the board, and concluded that intervention is necessary to shift the dial and foster greater inclusion behind the scenes, particularly with respect to creators.

The results were unveiled at a reception in Los Angeles hosted by Geena Davis.

At the event, Banijay Entertainment also announced a second cycle of its global women’s accelerator program, Banijay Launch, which saw over 500 applications from women creators across more than 30 territories in its first year. The entry portal for the second cycle will go live at Mipcom 2024.

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Banijay announced a second cycle of its global women’s accelerator program

Madeline Di Nonno, President & CEO of the Geena Davis Institute commented: “We are heartened by Banjiay’s leadership in not only identifying gender gaps within the industry, but also in their commitment to improve advancement opportunities in the company itself. We know that if women are in the drivers seat as decision makers then it will provide more diverse roles onscreen as well as behind-the-camera.”

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