Mounting pressure from parents and pro-family groups led Congress and the FCC to propose a television ratings system that would mirror that of the Motion Picture Association of America's (MPAA) rating system of motion pictures. On Jan. 1, 1997, TV Parental Guidelines went into effect, and most major networks, as well as cable networks, complied with the voluntary rating system. The guideline system categorizes television programming by suitability for selected age groups.
In 1996, a device known as the viewer-control chip, or V-chip, was introduced in conjunction with the TV ratings system as an electronic way to control programming according to the ratings of the programs. With provisions added to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the device became mandatory for all televisions produced as of January 2000.
The purpose of the TV ratings system is to allow parents to identify programs that might be questionable for their children. The ratings are categorized by age group and content, so parents quickly can tell whether the television show was rated for age 7 and over, 14 and over or adults only. Parents can also set the V-chip to automatically censor programs with certain ratings.
The ratings are determined by the networks who air the programs along with the TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board, a group of experts and analysts who work in the television industry.
Like movie ratings, the TV ratings designate programming according to age. The TV ratings are as follows: TV-Y (all children); TV-7 (older children); TV-G (general audience); TV-PG (parental guidance suggested); TV-14 (parents strongly cautioned); and TV-MA (mature audiences). In February 1997, NBC's airing of "Schindler's List" was the first program to receive the TV-MA rating.
In addition to the general ratings, content ratings also specify what type of questionable content might be found in the program. A television rating with a "D" added to its rating specification lets the viewer know that the content contains "suggestive dialogue; "V" represents violence; "L" designates course or crude language; and "S" is for sexual situations. "FV" is a special content rating that applies only to children's programming that contains fantasy violence.
Each television program rated by the TV Parental Guidelines system shows the rating in a small box in the upper-left corner of the screen during the first 15 seconds of the program. If the program extends past one-half hour, the identifying mark is displayed again at the beginning of each half-hour increment.
V-chip technology has been the subject of much scrutiny by anti-censorship and civil liberties groups. In 1996, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released a statement that claimed that the V-chip would take the power of choosing programs for children away from parents and give it to the government.