Early Analysis Calls TV Ratings Code a Failure

The first analysis of the television industry’s new self-imposed ratings code has declared the system a failure after just five weeks, calling it “hopelessly confusing, inconsistent, contradictory and meaningless.”

Some programs given the wholesome G rating contained words like “ass” and sexual jokes about breasts, the conservative Media Research Center found in its review of 150 hours of prime-time programming during the first two weeks of January.

There were no shows rated M, for adults only, suggesting that the industry believed everything it put on the air was appropriate for children under 17. The “Tonight Show” on NBC received a rating of TV-14 (parents strongly cautioned), for instance, while David Letterman’s show on CBS was given the less-restrictive PG rating.

The group’s research drew criticism from the industry, as well as the White House, for not giving the system a chance. White House spokesman Mike McCurry said that the system could not be fairly evaluated in five weeks and one academic noted that it could take years of empirical research to accurately determine the system’s strengths and weaknesses.

Nonetheless, Tuesday’s report is likely to fuel a growing movement to press television executives into revamping their code into one that would give parents information about the sex, violence and language content of individual programs, rather than designating them as appropriate for certain ages.

“We’ve all been saying from the start that we hoped the ratings system would not be age-based but would be content-based,” said Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.). “That is less subjective and clearer, and ultimately leaves it up to the parents to decide.”

The Senate Commerce Committee plans a hearing Feb. 27 to evaluate the effectiveness of the new system.

Lieberman said Congress might be persuaded to legislate a content-based ratings code if the industry does not implement one on its own.

Industry leaders, however, vowed to stick with their current system. Jack Valenti, head of the Motion Picture Assn. of America and a chief architect of the ratings system, said he is confident that the Senate committee, as well as the public, “will see what we are doing is right.”

Said Martin Franks, senior vice president at CBS: “The television industry’s parental guidelines system is barely 42 days old. Before its critics attempt to kill it in the cradle it should be given a fair chance to establish itself.”

Franks argued that a system that rates violence, language and sex might be even more confusing and more arbitrary. He said a recent poll by the Pew Research Center reported that 69% of parents found the new ratings helpful. But Lieberman said that his constituents seem puzzled by the code, which he described as a “missed opportunity by the networks to do what Congress wanted them to.”

The television industry agreed to the self-imposed ratings system last summer under pressure from President Clinton and Congress. The telecommunications law enacted last year required the Federal Communications Commission to impose a code if the industry did not establish one voluntarily.

The code took effect Jan. 1. The Media Research Center reviewed programs that aired between Jan. 3 and 16. It found that among programs rated PG, 52% contained vulgarities and 55% contained sex scenes; the percentages were 68% and 60% for shows carrying the TV-14 rating.

Brent Bozell, the center’s chairman, said that he thinks the system “should be junked at the earliest possible opportunity.”

Bozell was particularly troubled that the “F-word” had begun to show up on prime time, albeit in bleeped-out fashion.