LOS ANGELES -- The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said that it's mixed bag of news for how gays are portrayed on television

A study by GLAAD finds the number of gay characters depicted on television is falling on network series, but rising on cable.

GLADD noted that in the new television season, five broadcast series will have seven characters who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender -- "Brothers & Sisters," "Desperate Housewives," "Ugly Betty," "The Office" and the new midseason series "Cashmere Mafia."

That's down two from the previous series and down three from the season before. By comparison, GLAAD said that cable shows will feature 40 gay characters as series regulars -- up 15 characters from last year.

"While we acknowledge there have been improvements made in how we are seen on the broadcast networks, most notably on ABC, our declining representation clearly indicates a failure to inclusively reflect the audience watching television," GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano said in a statement.

Overall, GLAAD reports whites make up 77 percent of network series regular characters, up 2 percent from last year.

The percentage of blacks on network series remains steady at 12, while the percentage of Latinos drops from 7 to 6 percent.