Most Popular TV Shows Are Led by Women, According to New Study

Jul 02, 2023

This year saw an all-time high for women-held roles in television.

In 2017, ReFrame was officially formed; the coalition intends to address gender inequality within Hollywood and push for more opportunities for women. This year, ReFrame reported the highest numbers of women in television since its launch, revealing that a majority of popular series across streaming and network television were led by women. The report focused on television programs airing during the 2022-23 broadcast season.

The latest ReFrame Report on Gender & Hiring in TV pulled information from the top 200 scripted television series. Of those, 94 series earned ReFrame's Stamp award, which recognizes shows that meet all the criteria. Points are awarded for meeting requirements such as providing women with the top spots on the call sheet, including women in executive producer roles, crew roles, and more, with additional points awarded for including women of color each category.

This year, numbers were up across several categories, with 108 shows featuring women in leading roles, an increase from last year's 45.5%. The 2022-23 season also marks an all-time high for women in leading roles. Women of color gained the top spot on the call sheet for 39 shows, a 21 show increase from last year. Additionally, ensembles from 152 shows had diverse casts with more than 50% of their ensembles including gender diverse members. Of those, 129 had casts with women of color making up at least 25% of the ensemble.

On the creative side of things, more women held prominent roles such as showrunner, director, and writer. This year, 32.5% of series had at least one woman as showrunner, an increase from last year's 29.5%. More women of color gained showrunning opportunities, up to 9.5% from last year's 3.5%. In directing, 40% of jobs were women, but pilot episodes remain predominantly male, with only 31 out of 113 pilot episodes being directed by women. Pilot jobs for women of color directors was also significantly less, with only three pilots and only for streaming shows. Finally, within writing jobs, 50.08% of episodes were written or co-written by women. Network television took charge, with 55% of writing jobs including women. Streaming followed with 50%, while cable only had 39% of episodes written or co-written by women.

For the second year in a row, most Emmy-nominated comedies were awarded the ReFrame Stamp, with five out of eight meeting the necessary criteria. Among them are shows including Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Only Murders in the Building, Wednesday, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Subsequently, streaming shows were prominent in the comedy Stamp awards, with Abbott Elementary being the only network series (ABC) within the group. While comedies were up, only one Emmy-nominated drama, Yellowjackets, gained the Stamp this year, a decline from last year's three of eight.

Julia is a News and Resource writer for Collider.