TV Rating System Could Be Submitted to FCC Today

WASHINGTON â€”  The TV industry’s system for rating shows’ sexual and violent content is expected to be submitted to the government for review as early as today.

TV industry sources said they were prepared to file the plan--as required by a telecommunications law enacted in February--with the Federal Communications Commission.

ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and some cable networks are already carrying on-screen tags suggesting appropriate age groups for shows.

The six-tier aged-based system, similar to the one used for movies, was unveiled last month and immediately attacked by child advocacy groups and other critics as too vague to help parents shield their kids from excessive sex and violence.

If the FCC finds the TV industry’s ratings unsuitable, it can move to appoint an independent advisory board that would create a new system. However, the government can’t require its use.

Critics hope they can use the FCC review as a way to pressure the industry to make changes in its system. They want the ratings system to include more detailed information about the type and intensity of sex, violence and language in a given show. But Motion Picture Assn. of America President Jack Valenti has said he will fight in court any effort to impose another system.