"Article on Show Ratings system"

By Roger Fillion WASHINGTON, Dec 31 (Reuter) - The television industry's controversial system for rating programs is set to begin airing Wednesday on the big networks ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.


Broadcast and cable networks will carry the ratings, though start dates will vary. Time Warner Inc.'s upstart WB network began rating shows on Dec. 22. Cable network Black Entertainment Television does not plan to use the ratings.

Following are questions and answers about the system, unveiled by TV and Hollywood executives on Dec. 19.

Question: What are the ratings?

Answer: There are six categories, with two for children's shows. Like the 28-year-old motion-picture industry ratings, the TV ratings are meant to show a program's suitability for kids of different age groups. In general, they are: TV-Y -- Children of all ages.

TV-Y7 -- Children seven and older.

TV-G -- Suitable for all ages.

TV-PG -- Parental guidance suggested.

TV-14 -- Parents of children under 14 strongly cautioned.

TV-M -- Mature audiences only.

Q: How about some examples?

A: Westinghouse Electric Corp.'s CBS issued these ratings: "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," TV-Y7; the Rose Bowl parade, TV-G; "Touched by an Angel," TV-PG; and "Chicago Hope," TV-14.

Walt Disney Co.'s ABC offered the following: "Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show," TV-Y; "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch," TV-G; "Lois and Clark," TV-PG; and "NYPD Blue," TV-14.

General Electric Co.'s NBC will broadcast the Holocaust movie "Schindler's List" in February with a TV-M rating. And News Corp.'s Fox said the year's first episodes of "Melrose Place" and the "X-Files" will be rated TV-14.

Q: What are prime-time shows likely to receive?

A: Networks expect most will carry a middle-of-the-road TV-PG. But a show's rating can vary from episode to episode.

Q: Where will the ratings appear?

A: They will be displayed briefly as a small icon in the upper-left corner of the TV screen at the start of a show.

Newspapers, TV Guide and cable publications and on-screen listing services are expected to publish the guidelines.

Q: Are all shows affected?

A: No. News and sports programs are exempted. All other programs, including cartoons and talk shows, will be rated.

Each local TV station will have the final say over whether a show is rated and what rating it will receive.

Q: Who will rate the programs?

A: Networks and producers will rate their own shows, unlike the movie industry, where an independent panel made up of parents rates films. TV executives contend they have far more programs to rate, with up to 2,000 hours a day of shows.

Q: What's been the public's reaction?

A: Mixed. The ratings have drawn flak from some lawmakers, parent groups, children's advocates, educators and others.

These groups say the new system does not go far enough.

They favor a system that also would specify violence, sex and foul language, using letters such as V, S and L. An example: V-PG for a program in which parental guidance is suggested because of violent scenes.

Q: What do the critics plan to do?

A: They will ask the Federal Communications Commission to reject the industry's plan. And they want the industry to test the two approaches side by side in the home.

Q: What's the industry's response?

A: It will not participate in such a test. Executives also argue their system "mingles" age and content. For example, the system notes a TV-14 show may contain "sophisticated themes, sexual content, strong language and more intense violence."

Q: What is the origin of the ratings?

A: They stem from the communications law enacted in February that requires new TV sets to include a "V-chip." The technology, expected to be available in a year or so, will be used with the ratings to allow parents to block certain shows.

Q: What is the FCC's role?

A: The FCC must set up an advisory panel to devise a new system if the agency considers the industry plan unacceptable.

Q: Would the industry use such an alternative?

A: No. It has vowed to fight any government-imposed plan in court on First Amendment grounds.

15:36 12-31-96


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Eric Last, 25/5/97

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