Cable Executives OK Voluntary Ratings : Television: The agreement in principle also calls for an independent monitor for violent programming.

Representatives from the cable TV industry have agreed in principle to develop a voluntary rating system for their programs and to establish an outside monitor for violent content.

Sources said Monday that the agreement is very preliminary, with no details worked out and nothing on paper. It came at a meeting Friday with Sen. Paul Simon, D-Ill., who has been the most vocal congressional advocate of self-policing on the part of the industry. He has warned broadcasters that failure to take action themselves will very likely lead to legislative solutions, and a number of his colleagues have introduced a wide variety of bills.

Simon met separately the same day with the heads of the three major broadcast networks--CBS President Howard Stringer, Capital Cities/ABC Chairman Thomas Murphy and NBC President and CEO Robert Wright. With cable taking this initiative, the networks may be under greater pressure to follow suit.

The cable leaders attending their meeting included Turner Broadcasting’s Ted Turner and Turner’s head of legislative affairs, Bert Carp; HBO Chairman and CEO Michael Fuchs; Time Warner Senior Vice President Tim Boggs; and Showtime Chairman and CEO Tony Cox. They are part of a committee of the National Cable Television Assn., which meets regularly to discuss issues that cut across the industry. Last fall the committee announced an agreement to join over-the-air broadcast networks in airing advisories for programs with violent content.

The meetings were held at Simon’s request. Through a spokesman, the senator Monday described the meetings as “positive and constructive.” Sources said Simon told the industry representatives that he would leave the selection of a monitor and the establishment of a rating system to them.

Torie Clark, a spokesman for the National Cable Television Assn., said Monday that it had been a “very good meeting” and that the discussion of the use of an outside monitor was part of a continuing conversation between the industry and lawmakers.

The rating system and outside monitor were the key elements of a 10-part proposal put forth by representatives of the cable industry. The other eight elements were described by one source familiar with the proposal as “window dressing.”

Another source said other ideas under discussion included the use of more advisories, the placement of promos for violent programs during times when children would not be watching, and the use of creative possibilities of the industry to address the question of violence in society at large.

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While sources say the networks were taken a bit by surprise by the cable industry proposals, the networks have told Simon they will meet with their cable counterparts to discuss them. In the past, they have resisted any such ideas. Now, however, they are beginning to change. ABC is said to be the most receptive to the cable plan, with NBC following and CBS the least enthusiastic. If the networks decide not to go along with the proposal, cable representatives will have to decide whether to go it alone.

In that case the problem would be that the networks hold 60% of the viewing audience, and an agreement that didn’t include them would carry far less weight.

Network representatives have said it is “difficult to be paired with cable,” contending that the broadcast networks have already cleaned up their schedules and that cable is a far worse offender.

One of the biggest potential stumbling blocks will be advertiser reaction to a rating system, which one source described as “a very tricky issue.”

The rating system could be used much as the movie industry uses its voluntary rating system -- to warn parents of content that is unsuitable for certain age groups. Or it could work in consort with the so-called “V-chip,” a technology that would allow the owner of a television set to block out programs that have certain ratings.

It is likely that any system that was developed would take into account the difference between premium channels and basic service.