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A television rating system is a method of giving television viewers an idea of the suitability of a television program for children and/or adults.
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United States
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The TV Parental Guidelines system was first proposed in the United States on December 19, 1996 by Congress, the television industry and the FCC and went into effect by early January 1997 on most major broadcast and cable networks in response to public complaints of increasingly explicit sexual content, graphic violence and strong profanity in television programs. It was established as a voluntary-participation system, with ratings to be determined by the individually-participating broadcast and cable networks. It was specifically designed to be used with the V-chip, which was mandated to be built into all television sets manufactured since 2000, but the guidelines themselves have no legal force.
The system does not apply to news or sports programming, or commercials.
:Whether animated or live-action, the themes and elements in this program are specifically designed for a very young audience, including children from ages 2-6. This program is not expected to frighten younger children. Shows like Rugrats, SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer and Thomas and Friends and many other children's series have a TV-Y rating.
TV-Y7 (may be inappropriate for children under 7)
:It may be more appropriate for children who have acquired the developmental skills needed to distinguish between make-believe and reality. Themes and elements in this program may include mild fantasy or comedic violence, or may frighten children under the age of 7. Therefore, parents may wish to consider the suitability of this program for their very young children. Examples are Ed, Edd, n' Eddy, Ren and Stimpy (Spike TV's version is more explicit), Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and Time Warp Trio.
TV-PG (may not be suitable for children)
:The rating may find unsuitable for younger children, particularly under the age of 7, but parents may want to watch it with them. For example, the episode of Family Guy "Peter's Got Woods" is one of the only episode in that series to be rated TV-PG. The Simpsons usually carries a TV-PG rating but some episodes like Three Gays of the Condo carries a TV-14 rating. Most feature films originally rated PG-13 or R and edited for network or basic cable are rated TV-PG, however some are TV-14. Many prime time sitcoms, reality programs and some dramas have this rating. The rating may be accompanied by one or more of the following subratings:
: S for mild sexual situations
: L for mild coarse language
: D for suggestive dialogue (suggestive or explicit subject matter)
TV-14 (parental guidance suggested for children under 14;called TV-13 untill January 10, 1999.)
: Parents are strongly urged to exercise greater care in monitoring this program and are cautioned against letting children under the age of 14 watch unattended. This rating is very broad and common so it is often accompanied by one of the following subratings:
: D for highly suggestive dialogue
:Interestingly, most programs that air after 10:00 p.m. are rated TV-14, including programs such as The Tonight Show as well as many prime-time dramas and some sitcoms. CBS and NBC daytime dramas carry this rating, while ABC serials mostly carry the PG rating, with an occasional 14. World Wrestling Entertainment's RAW brand carries the TV-14 rating for Language and Violence. That show airs on Monday Nights at 9:00 PM on the USA Network.
TV-MA (suitable for mature audiences or adults only; originally TV-M until the fall of 1998)
:This program is not intended for and should not be viewed by audiences under the age of 17. The program may contain extreme graphic violence, strong profanity, overt sexual dialogue and/or explict sexual acts. South Park frequently carries a TV-MA rating, with the syndicated version receiving a TV-14 rating, as well as most original programs on HBO and Showtime and some shows on Adult Swim. Also The Shield, Nip/Tuck and Rescue Me, all on the FX Network, have carried these ratings (with all three sub-ratings). The film Schindler's List (aired by NBC in February 1997 and March 1999, as well as on PBS in July 2000) was the first network TV program to display this rating. The pilot episode of the CBS police drama Brooklyn South was the first network TV show (as opposed to movie) to display the rating, for its bloody opening sequence. The rating may be accompanied by one of the following subratings:
: V for highly graphic violence
: S for explicit sexual situations
: L for strong coarse language
: The D sub-rating is not used for TV-MA.
The implications of these ratings, particularly the TV-MA rating, vary greatly depending on the situation. For example, South Park, which airs on Comedy Central in prime time, generally has bleeped words even though it carries the MA rating. Yet certain other TV-MA programs on Comedy Central (including the late-night "Secret Stash" airings of South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut) appear to have no restrictions on language. This largely depends on the wishes of the shows' sponsors. Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block often uses a similarly "tame" TV-MA rating, most likely because Cartoon Network is still largely considered a children's network. Their TV-MA programs generally have strong animated violence and slightly stronger language than TV-14 programs, but are not nearly as explicit as many other TV-MA programs, such as those on HBO.
For the first 15 seconds of every rated program lasting a half-hour or less, a large rating icon appears in the upper-left hand corner of the TV screen. For every rated program running an hour or longer, a rating appears in the upper-left hand corner of the TV screen at the beginning of each half hour.
Starting in mid 2005, many networks display the icons after every commercial break. ABC was one of the first television networks to display the program's rating after every commercial break in addition to at the beginning of the program.
ABC's ratings icons do not use the regular Helvetica font, instead going with a Bank Gothic typeface, with black type on a white background, and are larger than the voluntary specifications.
CBS and The CW only show the icon at the start of the program, and use the original smaller icons.
Fox networks ratings icons are colored blue with white type, use a clockwise transition animation, and are larger than the voluntary specifications, appearing at the start of the program and as close to the half-hour as possible during an hour-long program. Black and white icons are retained for animated programs on the network and the 4Kids TV weekend children's block.
NBC's ratings icons are translucent, and have the yellow feather in the NBC Peacock logo "click and feather in" the icon like a mouse cursor clicking an icon. NBC and their related cable networks did not use the D-L-S-V subratings until 2005. * *.
PBS' ratings icons vary by each program's producers, though usually the default icons are used, with black Helvetica type on a white background. PBS and the network's digital cable networks/digital broadcast subchannels also opted out of the D-L-S-V subratings until 2005.
MyNetworkTV will not use the Helvetica font once their winter telenovelas premiere. Instead, OCR A Extended will be used, and both programs on the network's schedule will have a default TV-14 rating.
Syndicated programming often will show ratings icons drastically different from the original icons, in a different font (such as Tahoma), with a translucent or no background, letters with drop shadowing, or which match up with the title card or closing credits font for the program. This owes to the fact that the individual programs' production companies, not the broadcasting stations, apply the ratings.
Locally-produced programming may not show any kind of icon or indicator for a rating, and it is extremely rare for public access cable channels to have any ratings. News and sports channels (such as CNN, CNBC, Fox News Channel, ESPN, and Fox Sports Net), and broadcast news and sports shows have never used the ratings system, as live and taped sports and news events are excluded from having to be rated, though the commitments by the networks to edit out any live profanity and obscenity does remain.
The ratings can be detected by a television set device known as a V-chip. V-chips are built into all television receivers manufactured since 2000. Older sets can be retrofitted with external set-top boxes. However, the V-chips have to be activated by the set's owner, and provide only a blanket blocking for programs displaying the owner-selected primary rating(s): subratings cannot usually be selected for exemption from V-chip blockage (there are some television sets which can block subratings, however). In order for the V-chip to detect the rating, the rating code must be embedded into the TV signal by the program's creator (in the same way closed captioning is embedded in the signal). Shows that simply display a rating on the screen but do not contain this embedded code will not interact with the V-chip and not be prevented from showing regardless of the displayed rating.
Some famous exceptions of live programming that got past the censors were Bono's "This is really, really fucking brilliant!" on the Golden Globe Awards; Nicole Richie's "Have you ever tried to clean cow shit out of a Prada purse? It's not so fucking simple!" on the Billboard Music Awards; and one of the most infamous scenes in the history of American television, Janet Jackson's exposed breast on the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show. Many however have stated that the graphic and brutal violence on shows like the three CSI franchise shows are far worse than the profanity or nudity that gets attention from the media.
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Canada
In the wake of the American ratings system, the Canadian TV Classification System was created for English-language programmers to use in conjunction with the V-chip. Surprisingly, the upper-right corner of the Canadian age rating symbols are shaped like the corner of a maple leaf, like their national flag. This system differs somewhat from the American version:
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Canadian ratings
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C: Programming suitable for children under the age of 8 years. No profanity or sexual content of any level allowed. Minimal comedic violence; nothing realistic. (Similar to US TV-Y)
C8: Suitable for children over the age of 8. Low intensity violence and fantasy horror allowed. No foul language but occasional "socially offensive and discriminatory" language allowed if in the context of the story. Little or no sex or nudity. (Similar to TV-Y7)
G: General. Similar to the Canadian/American movie rating of the same name; programming suitable for the entire family with minimal violence, and no profanity or sexual content. (Similar to U.S. rating G or (low-end) PG)
PG: Parental Guidance. Again, similar to the movie rating of the same name. Moderate use of violence and mild profanity allowed, as is brief nudity and sexual references if important to a storyline. (Similar to U.S. rating (high-end) G, PG, or (low-end) PG-13)
14+: Programming intended for viewers ages 14 and over. May contain intense scenes of violence, strong profanity, and depictions of sexual activity within the context of a story. (Similar to U.S. rating (high-end) PG, PG-13, or (low-end) R). This rating was applied to a recent broadcast of the movie Animal House.)
18+: Programming intended for viewers ages 18 and over. May contain strong violence, language, and sexual activity. (Similar to US TV-MA)
French-language broadcasters use the Quebec film ratings system. There are also exemptions to some of the programming.
An E (no rating will appear on screen) is given to most news and sports programs, documentaries, talk shows, music videos and variety programming because they are exempt programs.
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Quebec ratings
0c0; color: white;"> G (General) appropriate for all ages with little or no violence and little to no sexual content.
f90; color: white;"> 8+ appropriate for children 8 and up which may contain little violence, some foul language and/or little to no sexual content.
13+ appropriate for teenagers 13 and up with moderate violence, language, and some sexual situations. Persons under 13 should be accompanied by an adult.
16+ appropriate for teenagers 16 and up with strong violence, strong language, and strong sexual content.
18+ only to be viewed by adults 18 and up and contains extreme violence and graphic sexual content/pornography.
An E (no rating will appear on screen) is given to exempt programming, in the same classes used for English Canadian programming above.
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Mexico
The Mexican TV ratings are similar to the Mexican movie ratings. The only difference is that there is no D rating for the TV rating system. The ratings are as followed:
AA: appropriate and designed for children under 7. No sex or nudity , violence, or language of any level is allowed.
A: appropriate for all ages with little to no sex and little to no violent content. Some examples include Rugrats.
B: Designed for ages 12 and up which may contain some sexual situations, mild violence, and mild language.
B-15: Designed for ages 15 and up. The content is a tad more explicit than the B rating. There are sexual innuendo and sexual situations, violence allowing some blood and gore, and coarse language.
C: designed to be viewed only by adults 18 or older and may contain strong, scary violence, strong language and/or explicit sexual material.
D: designed to be viewed only by "open minded" adults, as it most certainly contains strong, scary violence, strong language and/or explicit sexual material.
Reportedly, only one channel in Mexico explicitly shows the classification on each program, XEIMT-TV in Mexico City.
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Australia and New Zealand
For details on the Video and DVD classification system in Australia, see Censorship in Australia.
Australia and New Zealand's rating systems differ only slightly from other rating systems. New Zealand's are based on Australia's previous system which was used before 1995. TV Networks are required by law to warn viewers of a rating of a Program over the M Rating before viewing the programme and required to show a list of subratings the television show specifically may contain (if any). There is also advertising restrictions on TV programs with a rating of MA15+ or Higher. These ratings are exactly the same for Subscription TV. After commercial breaks the rating and subrating abbreviation of the programme has to be shown by law.
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Australia
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P Pre-Schoolers - Programmes suited specifically for pre-school children. Some shows include Blue's Clues, and In The Box.
C Children - Programmes suited specifically for children 5 to 11 years of age.
MA 15+ Mature Audience Only - Not suitable for Persons Under the Age of 15. - Can only be shown between 9:00pm - 5:00am. A parental warning must be shown before the program starts. Some shows include The Sopranos, The Shield, and some episodes of Law & Order: SVU.
AV 15+ Adult Violence - Not Suitable for Persons Under the Age of 15 - The AV 15+ signifies that the program contains significant violence. The standards for violence in this classification was part of the MA 15+ classification until 2004, when this rating was instituted to move programs with extreme violence to a later timeslot. AV 15+ rated material can be shown between 9:30pm and 5:00am. Some movies that are typically rated R18+ on DVD are issued the AV 15+ rating when televised. Note that ABC and SBS, who otherwise use the same ratings as the commercial free-to-air stations, use MAV instead for this rating.
Ratings from PG upwards can sometimes be accompanied with any of the specific subratings. These can be classified as "mild", "some", "very", "frequent", "realistic" or "strong", depending on the content of the television program. These subratings are:
S for Sexual references and/or Sex scenes
SN for Supernatural themes
H for Horror (may constitute for supernatural themes)
D for Drug use and/or Drug references
MP for Medical Procedures
W for War themes or footage
B for Colourful behaviour
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New Zealand
G (General Programmes): These exclude material likely to harm children under 14 and can screen at any time. Programmes may not necessarily be designed for younger viewers, but must not contain material likely to cause them undue distress or discomfort. G-rated programmes can screen at any time.
PGR (Parental Guidance Recommended): Programmes more suited to more mature viewers. These are not necessarily unsuitable for children, but viewer discretion is advised, and parents and guardians are encouraged to supervise younger viewers. Programmes rated PGR can screen between 9am - 4pm and between 7pm - 6am.
AO (Adults Only): AO programmes contain material of an adult nature handled in such a way that it is unsuitable for children. Such programmes are directed primarily at a mature audience and can screen between noon and 3pm on a school day (except during school and public holidays as designated by the Ministry of Education), and between 8:30pm - 5:00am. Some programmes exceed the guidelines and have special notes like AO 9:30 p.m. or later when sexually related body parts and/or situations might appear.
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United Kingdom
For details on the video and DVD classification system in the UK, see British Board of Film Classification.
In the United Kingdom, TV ratings are usually considered unnecessary; the television regulator, Ofcom, sets clear boundaries for what can be shown and when. The most obvious example of this is in the watershed, the time at which more explicit content can be shown. On main broadcast television, this is 9 p.m., however on subscriber television services it is 8 p.m..
However, some channels have adopted their own systems.
Also of note, the WWE Friday Night SmackDown! show shown on Sky Sports 3 retains America's TV-PG rating, and shows the logo in the top corner, even though the announcement made by Sky before every broadcast contradicts this.
The BBC and ITV give verbal announcements before programmes as to the nature of the programme about to be shown. ITV and the BBC show these comparatively rarely compared to Channel 4.
In addition to the above, Channel 4 occasionally has extra announcements before a programme resumes from a commercial break, if the content in a certain segment is viewed to be likely to cause offence. (i.e. if the programme crosses the watershed). Examples include the usage of the word "cunt" on Big Brother and a standard "don't try this at home" disclaimer before and during Jackass. See also red triangle.
five has its own rating system, roughly based on a mixture of the BBFC and MPAA movie classification systems, used for films only.
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Ireland
In Ireland, RTÉ displays a banner in the top left-hand corner of the screen during the opening screen of a programme. The banner will display either -
GA (General Audience) - a programme that would be acceptable to all ages and tastes.
Ch (Children) - a programme aimed specifically at children ages 5-11.
YA (Young Adult) - a programme aimed at an adolescent audience. That is to say it would not be of great interest to an adult. However, it might deal with issues which affect the teenage audience, e.g. relationships, sexual activity, sexuality, soft drugs. Parents and guardians could expect that "YA" programmes might contain such material and may choose to limit their children's access.
PS (Parental Supervision) - a programme aimed at a mature audience (i.e. It might deal with adult themes, be moderately violent, frightening or contain an occasional swear word.) and the classification label invites parents or guardians to consider restricting children's access.
MA (Mature Audience Only) - a typical "post-watershed" program which might contain scenes of strong sexual activity and heavy violence, or the dialogue might be profane.
This only applies to the RTÉ channels (RTÉ One, RTÉ Two & TG4), other television channels would usually make a verbal announcement of what a show contains beforehand.
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Poland
Until August 2005, Poland's television ratings system consisted of three icons:
green circle with circle in center (for all ages)
yellow circle with triangle in center (parental discretion advised)
red circle with square in center (adults only)
The current Polish television rating system, instituted in August 2005, consists of five icons:
green circle (for all ages): nothing objectionable
yellow triangle with number '7' in center (suitable for children over the age of 7): may contain mild bad language, bloodless violence; e.g. Chicken Run
Icons are seen continuously during movies and TV programs (except commercials). Informative programs, sports and commercials are exempt from classification.
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Netherlands
The Netherlands have a project called Kijkwijzer (ViewingGuide) introduced in 2002 by the Dutch Institute for the Classification of Audiovisual Media (NICAM). Kijkwijzer advices parents through graphic icons about almost all TV programs, movies and DVDs in the Netherlands. Recently their advice has begun expanding into gaming and the internet. When a movie is rated 12, this does not mean you are not allowed to see the movie under 12. It simply means that the parent should be aware that not all children under 12 might be able to cope with the content of the movie. It is up to the parent to decide if their child is mature enough to watch the movie or TV program. The icons are shown in TV guides, on movie posters, at the start of movies in theatre, and in the top left corner when a TV program starts.
What is special about these ratings is that there is no official written alternative for icons. Also short animated versions of the icons which even feature short audio samples are often used in commercials and the internet.
The following icons are in use for age rating:
All Ages (Alle Leeftijden)
Parental advisory for children under 6 (Let op met kinderen tot 6 jaar)
Parental advisory for children under 12 (Let op met kinderen tot 12 jaar)
Parental advisory for children and teenagers under 16 (Let op met kinderen tot 16 jaar)
Moreover, additional icons show why a movie, television show, or game has been given a specific rating:
Discrimination (Discriminatie)
Drug and Alcohol abuse (Drugs- en alcohol misbruik)
Language (Grof Taalgebruik)
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South Africa
South African ratings are issued and certified by the Film and Publication Board, whilst the National Broadcasting Commission regulates the various films and programmes. All television stations, cinemas and distributers of DVD, video and computer games must display the following signage:
Family - This is a program/film that does not contain any obsencity, and is suitable for family viewing. A logo must be displayed in the corner of the screen for 30 seconds after each commercial break.
PG - Children under the age of 12 may watch this program/film, but must be accompanied by an adult. This program contains an adult related theme, which might include very mild language, violence and sexual innuendo. A logo must be displayed in the corner of the screen for 1 minute after each commercial break.
13 - Children under the age of 13 are prohibited from watching this program/film. This program contains mild language, violence and sexual innuendo. A logo must be displayed in the corner of the screen for 2 minutes after each commercial break.
16 - Children under the age of 16 are prohibited from watching this program/film. It contains moderate violence, language, and some sexual situations. In the case of television, this programme may only be broadcast after 9pm - 4.30am. A logo must be displayed in the corner of the screen for 5 minutes after each commercial break. A full screen warning must be issued before the start of the program. If the program is longer than an hour, a warning must be displayed every half an hour.
18 - Children under the age of 18 are prohibited from watching this program/film. It contains extreme violence, language and/or graphic sexual content. In the case of television, this programme may only be broadcast from 10pm - 4.30am. A logo must be displayed in the corner of the screen for the duration of the program. A full screen warning must be issued before the start of the program and after each commercial break.
(The 18 rating does not refer to adult, child or animal pornography - as this is banned from television and cinema by the Film and Publication Board)
R18 - this is reserved for films of an extreme sexual nature (pornography). R18 films may only be distributed in the form of video and DVD in a controlled environment (eg. Adult Shops). No public viewing of this film may take place. R18 films may not be broadcast on television and in cinemas. This has been breached twice by ETv, where the soft bodering hardcore Emanuelle was screened.
(The R18 rating does not refer to child or animal pornography - as this is totally banned by the Film and Publication Board)
additional symbols:
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Turkey
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Other countries
Several television networks in Europe have voluntarily started using similar ratings systems of their own, often using an age designation such as 12, 14, or 16.
In the Philippines, a static Parental Guidance digital on-screen graphic appears during the duration of the program. Live news programs usually do not carry the graphic, with the exception of entertainment news programs.
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Satire of the Rating System
During the opening sequence of The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror VIII, the FOX censor edits the show, trying to avoid "raunchy NBC-style sex, or senseless CBS-style violence." A rating symbol, starting at "TV-G", hovers behind the censor and stabs him in the back with a sword, each time changing its ratings until it goes to "TV-MA", and then to two nonexistent TV ratings: TV-21 and TV-666.
During the Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law episode The Devlin Made Me Do It, the complexity of the rating system is parodied as Birdman aggressively questions a small child on how easy it is to follow: "Bobby, isn't television safe for the good kids? The ones who go to bed on time and don't file frivolous lawsuits. The kids who understand our simple voluntary TV rating system. TV-Y! TV-Y7! TV-Y7 FV for fantasy violence! How much clearer can we make it, Bobby?"
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See also
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