The Best (And Worst) TV Networks For LGBT Content

Fox and ABC Family pass with flying colors at GLAAD, but no such love for A&E and The History Channel.

Fox has become the very first broadcast television network to receive a grade of "excellent" by GLAAD.

Now in its ninth year, the Network Responsibility Index rates TV networks on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) inclusive content from June 2014 to May 2015. GLAAD assigned grades of "excellent, good, adequate," and "failing" based on the "quality, diversity and relative quantity" of LGBT representations in each network's original programming, according to the advocacy group's officials.

The honor represents a turnaround for the network, which received a "failing" grade in 2006. Researchers cited LGBT-inclusive programs like "Empire," "So You Think You Can Dance," and, of course, "Glee," which ended this past spring, as being responsible for the upswing. 45 percent of its original primetime programming was deemed "LGBT inclusive" by the organization.

Still, there was room for improvement, as the report deemed Seth MacFarlane's "Family Guy" a "sore spot that looks more retrograde with each passing year" in terms of its LGBT representation in the report.

Among cable networks, ABC Family also received an "excellent" rating, thanks to successful, inclusive shows like "Pretty Little Liars" and "The Fosters."

Among those to praise the Fox achievement was GLAAD CEO and President Sarah Kate Ellis, who said in a statement that the milestone "highlights real change across the media landscape." Ellis said this will be GLAAD's final Network Responsibility Index, as the advocacy organization hopes to shift its focus to increasing diversity among the LGBT-inclusive programming on TV.

Noting that the index "has helped reshape the television landscape," Ellis said, "As representations of LGBT people in the media continue to rise in number, pushing television networks to make those representations more diverse is more crucial than ever. This requires a different set of tools than the [index] provides, and as such GLAAD will shift focus to its annual TV diversity and transgender reports."

Head here to read more on the 2015 Network Responsibility Index, and check out how a selection of broadcast and cable networks fared below.

ABC Family
Eric McCandless via Getty Images

Rating: EXCELLENT, based on 74 percent of its 91.5 total hours of primetime programming being LGBT-inclusive.

Fox
Tommaso Boddi via Getty Images

Rating: EXCELLENT, based on 45 percent of its 196 total hours of primetime programming being LGBT-inclusive.

The CW
Christopher Polk via Getty Images

Rating: GOOD, based on 45 percent of its 274.5 total hours of primetime programming being LGBT-inclusive.

Showtime
Earl Gibson III via Getty Images

Rating: GOOD, based on 41 percent of its 164.75 total hours of primetime programming being LGBT-inclusive.

HBO
Imeh Akpanudosen via Getty Images

Rating: GOOD, based on 31 percent of its 207.5 total hours of primetime programming being LGBT-inclusive.

MTV
Michael Buckner via Getty Images

Rating: GOOD, based on 30 percent of its 234.75 total hours of primetime programming being LGBT-inclusive.

NBC
NBC via Getty Images

Rating: ADEQUATE, based on 28 percent of its 193 total hours of primetime programming being LGBT-inclusive.

CBS
CBS Photo Archive via Getty Images

Rating: ADEQUATE, based on 27 percent of its 186.5 total hours of primetime programming being LGBT-inclusive.

A&E
Ethan Miller via Getty Images

Rating: FAILING, based on 8 percent of its 243.5 total hours of primetime programming being LGBT-inclusive.

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