The Next Ratings War

WASHINGTON, D.C.: The debate on how to shield kids from inappropriate television erupted again at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing when critics attacked the current TV-ratings system as too subjective and unhelpful to parents. The current system, which rates content on a scale similar to the motion picture industry's G, PG, R and NC-17 ratings system is being reevaluated some 56 days after it was first implemented. "It's vague, it's ambiguous and it doesn't give parents an idea of what will appear on a program," said Jeff McIntyre, senior legislative analyst for the American Psychological Association. Critics contend it's not enough to know a program is TV-M ("for mature audiences only") -- parents need to know is it sex, violence or profanity that makes the program "mature?" Advocates are hoping for a system closer to one being tested in Canada that rates shows, on a sliding scale of 1 to 6, in each of three areas: violence, sex and language. Impossible, counters Jack Valenti, the Motion Picture Association's head who created the current system. "It won't work because there's a vast panoply of incidents in a movie, in a television show and just a single word 'S' ('contains sex') doesn't tell you anything," he said. "That's why the age category comes in to buttress content that allows the parent to make essential decisions." Also against more detailed ratings: newspapers, who say more detailed ratings would be too cumbersome to be listed widely. The design of the ratings will have great impact starting in 1998 when the V chip will be installed in new televisions and provide a tool for parents to lock out coarse programming. Indiana Senator Dan Coats says he will introduce a bill requiring TV stations to provide more detailed description of a program's potentially offensive material -- or face losing their licenses.