SHOWS WITH GAY CHARACTERS DRAW VIEWERS, ADS

Television shows featuring gay and lesbian characters accounted for 24 percent of all primetime network programming last season, attracting 28 percent of the total audience and 22 percent of the money spent on primetime advertising, Nielsen said today (Thursday), citing data from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). Those shows were particularly appealing to viewers 12-34, who made up 34 percent of their audience. The study also found that they were especially popular in the Eastern and Western U.S., much less so in the Midwest. Motion picture companies were the leading advertisers on those programs, devoting 28.3 percent of their TV ad budgets to them. Department stores were second, with 27.6 percent. Credit cards came in third with 25.5 percent.