Television Executives Rethink Ratings System

In a bid to head off a government crackdown on television indecency, top TV and cable industry executives met Monday to discuss ways to improve TV’s decade-old ratings system.

The meeting came amid growing concern by lawmakers about shows containing sex, violence and profanity. It also followed the Open Forum on Decency last week in Washington in which Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) threatened to pass legislation to crack down on TV indecency unless the industry policed itself better.

Monday’s meeting was organized by former Motion Picture Assn. of America President Jack Valenti. One participant, who declined to be identified because participants promised not to talk about the meeting publicly, called it a “spirited discussion” among media executives with “very different views.”

At last week’s decency hearing, Stevens expressed some interest in improving the current ratings system, which was developed in 1996. Under that system, producers label their shows with content descriptions that are recognized by an electronic V-chip embedded in most TVs manufactured after 1999.

But some executives at the meeting expressed concern that tinkering with the ratings system might produce further confusion among parents about how to use the content-blocking technology.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin hasn’t focused on ratings as a solution either. Instead, he has urged cable companies to offer packages of family-friendly programming or allow consumers to purchase only the channels they want. His view was echoed by many consumer advocates and TV watchdog groups.