The roles assigned to females and males in non-music radio programming

This article summarizes a content analysis of the non-music programming of two Top 40 radio stations in a metropolitan market, targeting adolescents. The content analyzed was recorded during times when, according to Arbitron Ratings, 12 to 17 year olds are the primary listeners (weekdays 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.; 7 p.m. to midnight; and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.). Research questions focused on the roles assigned to males and females in non-music content. Findings indicate that males dominate as DJs, newscasters, voiceovers in advertisements, sportscasters, and weathercasters. Females dominate as traffic reporters and audience participants. In addition, an analysis of the terms used to identify males and females throughout the non-music content indicates that females are referred to primarily by their family roles (wife, mother, daughter, sister), women, or as ladies while males are primarily referred to as guys, sir, or Mr.