NBC Assailed for Refusal to Sign On to TV Ratings

As the TV industry prepared to unveil its enhanced ratings for entertainment programming today, NBC came under fire in Congress on Tuesday for refusing to go along with the plan to add labels denoting sex, violence, coarse language and suggestive dialogue.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, blasted the top-rated network for its “intransigence” and said he will urge the Federal Communications Commission to consider revoking the licenses of NBC stations if they don’t use the new ratings as all other major broadcasters and cable channels have agreed to do.

McCain also vowed to move forward with legislation that would limit violent programming to late-night hours on any station that does not provide the content-based ratings.

NBC officials declined Tuesday to respond formally to McCain, but network executives said privately that they do not expect to change their position--which thus could set the stage for a legal or congressional showdown between Congress and the General Electric-owned broadcaster.

Under threats of legislation from Congress and pressure from children’s groups, the TV industry agreed last summer to add the letters S, V, L and D to the existing ratings to alert parents to programs that contain sex, violence, coarse language or suggestive dialogue, beginning today.

But NBC objected to the additional labels as government “coercion” and a violation of the network’s 1st Amendment rights. It said it would continue using the six ratings that the industry adopted last January, which classify programs according to their suitability for specific age groups--augmented by its own viewer advisories where it deemed necessary.

“We believe that we are providing helpful information with the ratings on NBC,” said Rosalyn Weinman, the network’s senior vice president for broadcast standards and content policy.

“I’m deeply disappointed by NBC’s failure to act,” McCain responded. “They’re putting their interests above the interests of their viewers. They’re making themselves out to be heroes on the issue of censorship when the real issue is providing information about the content of TV programming.”

Executives at other networks said that, although they disagreed with NBC’s position on the ratings, they would oppose any moves to legislate against NBC.

“We disagree with NBC, but a system is either voluntary or it isn’t,” Martin Franks, senior vice president of CBS, said in an interview. “If Sen. McCain moves legislation against NBC, we’ll support NBC. We are opposed to legislation.”

McCain made an issue of NBC’s stance at his committee’s hearings in Washington on Tuesday to confirm nominees for the FCC, asking whether they thought a station’s willingness to use the ratings should be a factor in deciding whether to renew its license.

Two nominees, Democrat Gloria Tristani and Republican Michael Powell, said they thought a station’s willingness to adopt a content-based ratings system should be considered, and a third, Republican Harold Furchgott-Roth, said that failure to adopt a new system “might raise a red flag.”

McCain’s suggestion of making the ratings a condition of license renewal carried his battle beyond the network to its affiliated stations.

“This appears to be a tactic to force NBC stations to put pressure on NBC,” said Doug Adams, general manager of KXAS-TV in Dallas and chairman of the NBC affiliate station board. NBC stations generally have supported the network’s position, he said, but added, “Stations that have license renewals coming up soon may get nervous” about what could happen to them.

The FCC still must decide on the acceptability of the industry’s proposed voluntary system, including deciding whether to pass judgment on NBC’s separate plans.

McCain said that, if NBC doesn’t change its mind, he will call for a vote in the Senate on a bill written by Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.) that would restrict violent programming to late-night hours for networks that do not provide content-based ratings.

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Ratings Guide

The ratings categories that the television industry is using:

CHILDREN

(Y) All children: designed for a very young audience

(Y7) Older children: designed for children age 7 and above

****

GENERAL CATEGORIES

(G) General audience: suitable for all ages, though not just for children

(PG) Parental guidance: may be unsuitable for younger children

(14 V,S,L) Parents cautioned: Probably unsuitable for children under 14

(MA) Mature audience: Designed for adults; unsuitable for under 17

Note: Some labels may carry subcategories that include FV for fantasy violence, V for violence, S for sexual situations, L for coarse language and D for suggestive dialogue.