A new report from Banijay Entertainment, Everywoman Studios, and The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (GDI) has unveiled major gender disparity in leading roles in reality TV production.

“Behind the Scenes: Women’s Representation in Unscripted Television in the US, UK, Brazil, and France” investigates gender parity in decision-making roles in reality television. The results were unveiled at a reception in Los Angeles hosted by Geena Davis.

At the event Banijay Entertainment also announced the pick-up of 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.

The Behind the Scenes study conducted by GDI spanned four territories (United States, United Kingdom, France, Brazil) over three years (2021 to 2023) and illustrates the historic under- representation of women in unscripted creative leadership roles. Summarizing change in gender dynamics as “slow and inconsistent” across the board, the report concluded intervention is necessary to shift the dial and foster greater inclusion behind-the-scenes, particularly with respect to creators.

The report found that overall, men outnumber women in reality television production, making 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) across all countries and all years, with the gender difference most pronounced in the U.S. (80.6% male compared with 16.1% female).

Across all countries, the percentage of female executive producers has increased nearly ten percent from 2021 to 2023 — from 36.6% to 46.0%.

There was near-gender parity among supervising producers (50.9% male and 49.1% female), across all countries and all years.

Madeline Di Nonno, President & CEO, Geena Davis Institute comments: “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.”

Sharon Levy, CEO, Endemol Shine North America comments: “We hope this report will be a spark that ignites conversations about getting more women in leadership roles for unscripted television and inspires the industry to come up with some actionable ideas to make that happen! Banijay Launch itself proves that we, as a major player, can do more, and we are, but the whole entertainment industry needs to step up and make it easier for women to reach these top spots. It’s time to tackle this massive gender gap head-on!”

Abby Greensfelder, Founder & CEO, Everywoman Studios comments: “To see the numbers in the GDI Report reflect how the tides are turning, however inconsistently and slowly, only heightens my drive to see accelerators like Banijay Launch continue. This study confirms that without intervention, we are far away from seeing the equity in the industry we all are striving for.”

During the event, Hollywood’s leading unscripted executives – Sahara Bushue (Director, Unscripted Series, Netflix), Tiffany Faigus (SVP, Unscripted and Alternative Entertainment, ABC Entertainment and Walt Disney Television), and Sharon Levy (CEO, Endemol Shine North America). – took to the stage to discuss the report findings and their views on how to drive meaningful shifts to address widespread gender imbalance in reality television. The session was chaired by Hyphenate Media Group’s Chief Strategy Officer, Karla Pita Loor.

Behind the Scenes: Women’s Representation in Unscripted Television in the US, UK, Brazil, and France was commissioned to coincide with Banijay Launch – a new global accelerator program designed to support women creators with promising unscripted formats. Geared towards discovering and incubating untapped talent to support the next generation of global franchise makers, its first cycle, which saw over 500 applications across more than 30 territories, culminated with winning pitches from two creators, Amber Kane (Australia) and Emily Wilson (United Kingdom), who are now in supported development on their format concepts. The initiative was initiated by Levy, and co-led by James Townley, Banijay Entertainment’s Chief Content Officer, Development. It was inspired by the Propelle program, a female-focused accelerator initiative created and developed by Greensfelder, in partnership with Realscreen, in 2020.