Representation of blacks in Brazil on prime‐time commercial television

Abstract

Commercial television dominates prime‐time broadcasting in Brazil, and Rede Globo is the pre‐eminent broadcaster, capturing 60–80% of the nightly viewing audience. This analysis compares the content of prime‐time programming in Brazil to the real world of Brazilian society, using a constructed week of prime‐time and Saturday morning children's programming on Rede Globo as a case in point. It shows the divergence between the content of Rede Globo and the demographics of the Brazilian population, and suggests that Globo's commercial preoccupations result in programming content that conflicts with the economic, political, cultural, and social reality of the black and brown Brazilian population. The findings are discussed and analyzed in terms of their implications for socialization, intergroup relations, and television programming policy for Brazil. Suggestions are made as to how commercial television in Brazil can be made more responsible and accountable to all of Brazilian society.

Key Terms:

• Portrayal
• representation
• blacks
• Brazil
• television
• society