Businessmen Behaving Badly: Prime Time's World of Commerce
Table of Contents:
The research period covered 26 months, beginning in January, 1995 and ending in February, 1997. For 1995, researchers analyzed ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox programming from the first full calendar week of each month. Researchers did not watch reruns that aired between January and May, and September and December. During June, July, and August, researchers analyzed original programming and reruns which did not air during other parts of the study period. The results of this 12-week study were published in the December, 1996 MediaNomics. To update this study, researchers analyzed the first week of each of the four sweeps periods of 1996 and the first week of the first sweeps period of 1997. There were 863 episodes of sitcoms, dramas, and made-for-TV movies analyzed during these 17 weeks.
There were a total of 514 criminals -- 365 in the 1995 viewing sample, 109 in the 1996 viewing sample, and 40 in the 1997 viewing sample. The occupations of criminals included:
|
Occupation |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
Total |
| Unknown1 | 110(30.1%) | 42 (38.5%) | 6 (15.0%) | 158 (30.7%) |
| Business | 106 (29.0%) | 27 (24.8%) | 17 (42.5%) | 150 (29.2%) |
| Career Criminal | 33 (9.0%) | 10 (9.2%) | 7 (17.5%) | 50 (9.7%) |
| Doctor | 17 (4.7%) | 4 (3.7%) | 0 (0.0%) | 21 (4.1%) |
| Govt. Official | 14 (3.8%) | 3 (2.8%) | 3 (7.5%) | 20 (3.9%) |
| Police | 18 (4.9%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 18 (3.5%) |
| Student | 4 (1.1%) | 6 (5.5%) | 3 (7.5%) | 13 (2.5%) |
| Entertainer | 9 (2.5%) | 3 (2.8%) | 0 (0.0%) | 12 (2.3%) |
| Military | 10 (2.7%) | 1 (0.9%) | 0 (0.0%) | 11 (2.1%) |
| Blue Collar | 6 (1.6%) | 2 (1.8%) | 1 (2.5%) | 9 (1.8%) |
| Service | 8 (2.2%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 8 (1.6%) |
| Scientist | 2 (0.5%) | 4 (3.7%) | 1 (2.5%) | 7 (1.4%) |
| Teacher | 3 (0.8%) | 2 (1.8%) | 1 (2.5%) | 6 (1.2%) |
| Athlete | 5 (1.4%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 5 (1.0%) |
| Clerical | 5 (1.4%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 5 (1.0%) |
| Lawyer | 4 (1.1%) | 1 (0.9%) | 0 (0.0%) | 5 (1.0%) |
| Journalist/Writer | 4 (1.1%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 4 (0.8%) |
| Nurse/Medic | 1 (0.3%) | 2 (1.8%) | 1 (2.5%) | 4 (0.8%) |
| Clergy | 3 (0.8%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 3 (0.6%) |
| Cult | 1 (0.3%) | 1 (0.9%) | 0 (0.0%) | 2 (0.4%) |
| Housewife | 2 (0.5%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 2 (0.4%) |
| Mercenary | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (0.9%) | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (0.2%) |
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Of the 356 criminals whose occupations were known to viewers, 42.1 percent were business characters; 14.0 percent were career criminals; 5.9 percent were doctors; 5.6 percent were government officials; 5.1 percent were police officers; 3.7 percent were students; 3.4 percent were entertainers; 3.1 percent were military personnel; 2.5 percent were blue collar workers; 2.2 percent were service workers; 2.0 percent were scientists; 1.7 percent were teachers; 1.4 percent were athletes; 1.4 percent were clerical workers; 1.4 percent were lawyers; 1.1 percent were journalists/writers; 1.1 percent were nurses/medics; 0.8 percent were clergymen; 0.6 percent were cult leaders; 0.6 percent were housewives; 0.3 percent were mercenaries.
The total number of criminals on each network during each year of the study period:
Number of Criminal Characters
|
Network |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
Total |
| ABC | 69 | 24 | 7 | 100 |
| CBS | 115 | 30 | 12 | 157 |
| NBC | 83 | 21 | 11 | 115 |
| Fox | 98 | 34 | 10 | 142 |
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On each network the total number, and percentage, of criminals who were business owners or executives were:
Number and Percentage of Business Criminals
|
Network |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
Total |
| ABC | 22 (31.9%) | 7 (29.2%) | 1 (14.3%) | 30 (30.0%) |
| CBS | 35 (30.4%) | 6 (20.0%) | 5 (41.7%) | 46 (29.3%) |
| NBC | 22 (25.5%) | 4 (19.0%) | 6 (54.6%) | 32 (27.8%) |
| Fox | 27 (27.6%) | 10 (29.4%) | 5 (50.0%) | 42 (29.6%) |
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Of the 514 criminals, 356 had occupations which were made known to viewers. On ABC, 42.9 percent of these were business characters (30 of 70); on CBS, 43.0 percent of these were business characters (46 of 107); on NBC, 40.5 percent of these were business characters (32 of 79); and on Fox, 42.0 percent of these were business characters (42 of 100).
There were 214 murderers -- 157 in the 1995 viewing sample, 44 in the 1996 viewing sample, and 13 in the 1997 viewing sample. The occupations of murderers included:
|
Occupation |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
Total |
| Business | 45 (28.7%) | 13 (29.6%) | 7 (53.9%) | 65 (30.4%) |
| Unknown | 42 (26.8%) | 13 (29.6%) | 2 (15.4%) | 57 (26.6%) |
| Career Criminal | 16 (10.2%) | 4 (9.1%) | 1 (7.7%) | 21 (9.8%) |
| Doctor | 7 (4.5%) | 2 (4.6%) | 0 (0.0%) | 9 (4.2%) |
| Govt. Official | 5 (3.2%) | 3 (6.8%) | 1 (7.7%) | 9 (4.2%) |
| Police | 9 (5.7%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 9 (4.2%) |
| Entertainer | 5 (3.2%) | 3 (6.8%) | 0 (0.0%) | 8 (3.7%) |
| Military | 6 (3.8%) | 1 (2.3%) | 0 (0.0%) | 7 (3.3%) |
| Blue Collar | 3 (1.9%) | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (7.7%) | 4 (1.9%) |
| Scientist | 2 (1.3%) | 2 (4.6%) | 0 (0.0%) | 4 (1.9%) |
| Clerical | 3 (1.9%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 3 (1.4%) |
| Service | 3 (1.9%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 3 (1.4%) |
| Teacher | 2 (1.3%) | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (7.7%) | 3 (1.4%) |
| Athlete | 2 (1.3%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 2 (0.9%) |
| Journalist/Writer | 2 (1.3%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 2 (0.9%) |
| Nurse/Medic | 1 (0.6%) | 1 (2.3%) | 0 (0.0%) | 2 (0.9%) |
| Student | 1 (0.6%) | 1 (2.3%) | 0 (0.0%) | 2 (0.9%) |
| Clergy | 1 (0.6%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (0.5%) |
| Housewife | 1 (0.6%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (0.5%) |
| Lawyer | 1 (0.6%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (0.5%) |
| Mercenary | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (2.3%) | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (0.5%) |
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Of the 157 murderers whose occupations were known to viewers, 41.4 percent were business characters; 13.4 percent were career criminals; 5.7 percent were doctors; 5.7 percent were government officials; 5.7 percent were police officers; 5.1 percent were entertainers; 4.5 percent were military personnel; 2.5 percent were blue collar workers; 2.5 percent were scientists; 1.9 percent were clerical workers; 1.9 percent were service workers; 1.9 percent were teachers; 1.3 percent were athletes; 1.3 percent were journalists/writers; 1.3 percent were nurses/medics; 1.3 percent were students; 0.6 percent were clergymen; 0.6 percent were housewives; 0.6 percent were lawyers; 0.6 percent were mercenaries.
APPENDIX V: BIG BUSINESS VS. SMALL BUSINESS
Of the 731 total business characters, 302 (41.3 percent) owned or managed big businesses, while 424 (58 percent) owned small businesses. The size of five businesses (0.7 percent) was not made clear to viewers. There were more small business characters, but far more big business murderers:
|
Business Size |
Number of Murderers |
| Big Business | 47 of 302 (15.6%) |
| Small Business | 18 of 424 (4.2%) |
| Unknown | 0 of 5 (0.0%) |
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The way the two types of businesses were generally portrayed also varied greatly:
|
Business Size |
Meets Society's Needs |
Cheats To Get Ahead |
| Big Business | 28 of 302 (9.3%) | 139 of 302 (46%) |
| Small Business | 155 of 424 (36.6%) | 71 of 424 (16.7%) |
| Unknown | 0 of 5 (0.0%) | 0 of 5 (0.0%) |
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72.3 percent of business murderers were big business characters; 84.7 percent of the business characters who met society's needs were small business owners; 66.2 percent of the business characters who cheated to get ahead were big business owners or executives.
During the study period, television sent many messages about the workplace. These included:
|
Work message |
Number of Portrayals |
| Hard work pays off |
54 |
| Work interferes with family life |
48 |
| Hard work is unimportant |
46 |
| Bosses are mean or lazy |
44 |
| Knowing right people advances career |
43 |
| Bosses are source of slapstick humor |
31 |
| Sexism occurs in the workplace |
23 |
| Sex with boss advances career |
19 |
| Dishonesty doesn't pay off |
19 |
| Money is the only reason to work |
18 |
| Work can conflict with conscience |
18 |
| Workplace is primarily a social gathering |
18 |
| Money isn't the only reason to work |
17 |
| Can't trust co-workers |
16 |
| Employers are adversarial with workers |
16 |
| Sex with co-workers is common |
15 |
| Jobs are not secure |
14 |
| Dishonesty pays off |
12 |
| Teamwork is important |
12 |
| Investing money is risky or greedy |
11 |
| Work interferes with dreams |
11 |
| Caring for employees pays off |
10 |
| It's important to be honest |
9 |
| Satisfying customers is unimportant |
9 |
| Appearances sell product, advance career |
8 |
| Education pays off |
8 |
| Inherited wealth/position is undeserved |
8 |
| Work is an integral part of life |
8 |
| Don't mix work and personal life |
7 |
| Job defines a person |
7 |
| Experience is necessary to succeed |
6 |
| Power corrupts |
6 |
| Racism occurs in the workplace |
6 |
| Sexual harassment too broadly defined |
6 |
| Shouldn't feel guilty for success |
6 |
| Affirmative action is controversial |
5 |
| Education doesn't pay off |
5 |
| Everyone can succeed |
5 |
| It's OK to break bureaucratic rules |
5 |
| Job doesn't define a person |
5 |
| Satisfying customers is important |
5 |
| Schmoozing advances career |
5 |
| Experience isn't necessary to succeed |
4 |
| Vacations help productivity |
4 |
| Age is a barrier to advancement |
3 |
| Homemaking is not fulfilling |
3 |
| Incompetence on the job is OK |
3 |
| It's not OK to break rules |
3 |
| Must be assertive to succeed |
3 |
| Sex with co-workers is unethical |
3 |
| Homemaking is fulfilling |
2 |
| Immigrants appreciate capitalism |
2 |
| Abandon duties for new opportunities |
1 |
| Appearances shouldn't advance career |
1 |
| Investing is responsible |
1 |
