Time To Fix The TV Rating System

This is family policy matter program is produced by the North Carolina family policy Council of profamily research and education organization dedicated to strengthening and preserving the family, and often the studio hears John Rushton, president of the North Carolina family policy Council, thank you for joining us this week. Profamily policy matters. It's our pleasure to have winter with us on the program as president of the parents television Council or the PTC nonpartisan media watchdog and education organization. PTC has recently launched a national campaign aimed at changing the current television writing system to ensure that it accurately reflects the content of television programs were to be talking with Tim about the current TV rating system where it is lacking and what changes are necessary to improve it to welcome to the program were so glad to have you with us. You and your listeners across Carolina from my from Hollywood, California.

Well, thank you for joining us from Hollywood. We appreciate that we talk about the new campaign. Tell us about the current television rating system. If you would how it began and how programs are related sure the content rating system goes back to the late 1990s. Listeners may recall, there was was concerned back in the day about the amount of violence that our children were seen on television and so the Congress passed a law that said we need to have a V-chip, a blocking device inside every new television set that was manufactured and sold in the US, and that that that V-chip for violence could be used by parents to block material they felt was inappropriate for the children to see now that that V-chip required a content rating system in order for it to work and so what that the TV networks have done. This is all overseen to make sure it's it's a good system by the Federal Communications Commission.

The FCC in Washington DC but each television network rates at its own program and to provide an aid rating in the age rating a night so he looked similar to the motion picture rating system that we see in the movie theaters that TBP GTB 14 TDMA meeting mature audiences only and enemy also add the call content descriptors DLF and the deeper dialogue that is sexually suggestive helper language and profanity in such to be her intense violence and asked for for sexual contact between the that the age rating, which is the TV 14 TV PG and so forth, and the content descriptors DLF and V. Parents are our at least in theory. Given additional information that based on their sensitivities. They can block or shield certain programs from premiering on their on their television sets and the PTC has described the television writing system as an "inaccurate inconsistently applied and ineffective. Why do you believe this is the case, well after the question goes back to how the content television ratings are actually determined and that is after television network level television network has people on it. Staff to review the content and they determine for themselves upon their internal criteria. Whether it's a TV 14 for 14-year-old. Whether it's TDMA for mature audiences only and they themselves decide what that content rating is and and the problem is there is a conflict of interest. Imagine if you will, asking the Justice Department in Washington to decide for itself when it is crossline and has done something unethical. Imagine if someone on Wall Street banker on Wall Street were to decide for themselves whether what they were doing was unethical.

Here we have a situation where the TV networks decide to put an age rating on the content, the younger the age rating they put on their the more advertising dollars they get so they're actually directly benefited financially by reading something as appropriate for a younger audience, even if it's not appropriate for younger audience. So there's an inherent conflict of interest and and what's more, we have seen examples of a television show, the same episode of the same show aired on two different networks received two different age ratings so there's no consistency across across the different networks we are facing the same episode, unedited. The exact same episode of the exact same show airing on the same television network rated at one time is for mature audiences only had a second time. Is it appropriate for 14-year-old children have you have a system that lacks accuracy that lacks consistency that lacks any sort of transparency, power, the parent supposed understand what these rating network for themselves and ultimately there's no public accountability. There is no ability for the parents for the public to say hey I think this rating is wrong and what do I write will so do you consider this to be a situation of, the fox watching the henhouse where the networks themselves are responsible as you said for actually doing the ratings. It's not the parents television Council or parents or an objective interest out there, but it is the industry itself is exactly situation where the fox guarding the henhouse, but the fog is wearing a bib in heaven. My comportment and I mean it's just it's it's so extreme and so egregious that he would have the television networks profit from advertisers shows a lot of the advertisers refused to sponsor mature audiences only content because I feel it's too explicit and they don't want to be associated with it. So they rely on the content rating and so so you have a show might really be mature, it's only because of the content networks will rated as appropriate for 14-year-old children. That means advertisers will be buying show otherwise wouldn't money also means that parents who rely on a system warn them about inappropriate material are being defrauded. It's it's really up and down the line so it's hard to imagine a more corrupt system from the get-go also seems, at least from observations that there networks that were used. Even monikers like family and their name or the title of many of their shows and it's anything but family-friendly content and I know that there are just example, after examples of the types of programs that are talking about. Could you give us a few examples of things that you have seen where the content of shows has been just grossly macerated by the current rating system absolutely and in just in recent and written in recent days we have seen a graphic murder same have been involved in the television industry for 33 years, either directly or indirectly.

I spent 15 years it did at NBC site. I know a lot about telogen production: programming and scheduling.

We thought perhaps the most graphic instance of a murder for reviewers who want to just see understand how that is truly as you can come to our website.

It parents TV.org and see for yourselves. We we provide an ability for you to know, to actually understand how bad things are. But damn that was a scene of violent scene that we feel not only meets but exceeds even the most graphic files we seen on cable television and what's interesting is that cable television programs usually are rated TDMA meeting mature audiences only.

This program was on that them talking about was on a show called the following on the fox broadcast network and it was rated as appropriate for 14-year-old children and so I'll leave it that say that the violence were seen now on broadcast is the same as or greater than the graphic violence was being given on cable all of the broadcast television networks have rated every single series on television is appropriate for €14 children were younger, and this is the same material that is on cable will be would be rated as for mature audiences only.

Let's take a minute to talk about the parents television Council campaign that is ongoing, which began with the letter to Michael Powell who is the president and CEO of the national cable and telecommunications Association is also chair of the TV parental guidelines monitoring board and is the former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission or the FCC tell us briefly about the letter to Mr. Powell and the purpose of the TV parental guidelines monitoring board is a board made up of some number of people.

I think the numbers 12 or 15 or something like that, but it is comprised of a group of people we don't know who's on the committee was on the board. It's it's a secret, but we know it's mostly made up of television industry executives and the purpose of the board is to make sure that the rating system is running properly. So if you think about it for a second you have a rating system that is basically fraudulent because there is that the network) chosen a rate them inaccurately because there is a conflict of interest to do so.

The very same people who write the show inaccurately are then charged with making sure the system is is accurate and working. So just imagine that for second that the very people who have the financial benefit of making the system broken are therefore are then charged. Make sure the system is broken.

That's what the monitoring board is. It is chaired by the cable industry lobbyist uncle Powell for which FCC Chairman and he is supposed to chair this committee become were not sure who's on the committee. All we know is that it's mostly industry people, and is led by the industry's biggest lobbyist and this is what parents are supposed to rely upon as a means to protect their children from soffits, and appropriate.

It's very troubling. This is the structure of the system, but it was all good faith. We reached out to Michael Powell. We've we've spoken with him and in years past and and so we reached out to him and we said Karen Powell. We think that the system is broken. It's not accurate is not consistent. It's not transparent and there's no public accountability. We provided several examples of what how the system is broken. I have not yet received word back from Michael Powell that I was an answer to the many questions that I asked I was told that he received a letter that he is working with the board this border. Whoever is on the board to give us a response, but that's now been a few months we've heard nothing. So were trying to amp up the public pressure there is an email address that contact for this oversight. Monitoring board and we want the public to speak up. You want the public it to your faith. They feel that the system is broken to speak up and we need to hold them accountable. We need to have some transparency. We need to be able to have an understanding of who's on this board. What are the qualifications, are they making sure that the system is working. If we can point out how many times been broken. What are the steps being taken to fix it.

You know what are the remedies that are regarding a place with no answers to any of those questions. All we know is that the system is rigged against parents and were trying to shed some Muslim publics revealed in the letter to Mr. Powell. I know the PTC outlined a number of proposed reforms to the television rating system unfortunately don't have time to go into detail on all of those but I just wanted to see if you could highlight a couple of the recommendations that the PTC offered to Mr. Powell and the TV parental guidelines monitoring board to help ensure that the ratings for TV programs more accurately reflects the actual content of the program. Yet we at we we have not turned offered six specific remedies to help help bring some some daylight so that parents can see what's going on with this oversight monitoring board the various six points really kind of all come back to to one key issue and that's transparency understanding what the board does how they deliberate how they reach decisions whether they even meet whether they even discuss these issues allow parents a seat at the table right now what you have is a system that is is it's it's it's rigged by the entertainment industry to provide a shield and we want is to allow parents see the table to make sure that they know that their concerns are being addressed and being acted upon and being resolved well is we do have listeners who are concerned about this and who want to get involved attempts. What can a listener do work and I go to find out more about the campaign and also about the parents television Council website parents TV.org there's is a treasure trove of information or you can learn who can be educated and informed about the issues you are afforded means by which you can speak up, speak out be an activist is very easy couple of mouse clicks are a couple of phone calls and you can actually have a very big impact of the thing that I would urge you folks not to do is to sit back and be frustrated. Be silent.

The worst thing we can do is just to to accept the status quo as is the way it's going to be the public airwaves are owned by the public. The promises of the serve the public interest in the public interest means they have to be respectful of the time and day when I put stuff out. The committee standards for for decency and what's in the public and the community and and that's our property and the worst thing we can do is do nothing think that's very important advice and I would again encourage our listeners to to not just in back is you said, but to engage in winter.

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to be with us on family policy matters. We really appreciated and we really appreciate the great work that you are doing with parents television Council. Thank you so much. Thank you John's family policy matters. Information and analysis feature of the North Carolina family policy Council join us weekly discussion on policy issues affecting the family. If you have questions or comments. 91 907-0800 or visit our website and single-family.org