Gender-Balanced Hiring in TV Programs Lags Behind, New Report Finds (Exclusive)

The latest annual ReFrame and WIF study shows representation among lead actors and overall crew declined in the 2025-2026 season.

In its latest annual report in collaboration with WIF, ReFrame found that gender-balanced hiring in the most popular TV series declined in the 2025-2026 season.

The Hollywood Reporter found that 42 of the top 100 series of the season were awarded as gender-balanced productions by the organization, which was a three percent decrease from the previous year.

"It confirms what I think a lot of people are seeing and experiencing, which is that we're going backwards on gender balance," WIF CEO Kristen Shaffer said in an interview.

Founded by the Sundance Institute and WIF in 2017, the organization awards its ReFrame Seal to television productions that employ a sufficient number of women or non-binary or trans people in key roles such as showrunner, lead actor, lead actress, director and various department heads. The organization uses a points system to determine eligibility.

ReFrame System's Schaffer added, "We think we've made it relatively easy to achieve, and so the fact that the numbers are moving backwards instead of forwards is really a problem. We're looking to move forward."

"Even though there are fewer TV shows being made in the industry now, it's based on percentages, so the percentages should still remain," he added.

This year's report shows a clear decline in the representation of women, non-binary and trans people in leading roles. Only 39 women or non-binary or trans people starred in the best series of the season, the fewest in seven years (and in the previous TV season, it was 44).

Representation of women of color and non-binary and trans people of color in leading roles has also declined: In the 2024-2025 television season, 55 percent of the most popular series included at least one woman of color, non-binary, or trans person of color in a key supporting role, compared to just 47 percent of series in the most recent season.

Behind the camera, the report showed a mixed bag for gender-balanced hiring. The show's percentage of hosts has increased slightly, but it also shows how women and non-binary and trans people remain in the role (this latest season has 31 identified in that category, compared to 29 last season). Representation increased among writers (the number of shows with at least half of its episodes written by women or non-binary people increased from 49 episodes in the previous season to 51 in the most recent season) while it decreased among directors (shows with at least half of its episodes created by this group decreased from 38 in 2024-2025 to 352 in 2020).

As ReFrame previously reported, a female showrunner is highly anticipated to have a gender-balanced series. Last season, 87 percent of series awarded the Organizations Stamp had a female lead, compared to nearly 93 percent the season before.

The report also found that gender-balanced series were slightly more likely to be renewed and less likely to be canceled.Of the 27 first-season series that received a stamp, 24, or 89 percent, were renewed, compared to 38 of the 45 series, or 84 percent, that did not receive a stamp. Eleven shows were canceled in 2024-25 TV, four received stamps and seven did not.

See the full list of ReFrame's Stamp recipients from the 2025-2026 TV season below.

How to Get to Heaven from Belfast / Netflix: Season 1

Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Best / Hulu: Season 1

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters / Apple TV: Season 2

Only Murders in the Building / Hulu: Season 5

Something Very Bad Is About to Happen / Netflix: Season 1

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy / Paramount+: Season 1

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds / Paramount+: Season 3

Girlfriend / Amazon Prime Video: Season 1

The Summer I Turned Pretty / Amazon Prime Video: Season 3

We Were Liars / Amazon Prime Video: Season 1

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