WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission is once again exploring the issue of children’s programming, with a new Public Notice seeking comments “on any changes that can or should be made to the TV Parental Guidelines age ratings system to ensure that it is responsive to the issues that parents confront today” in determining what programming is appropriate for their kids.
“Over the years, Congress and the FCC have acted to empower parents to determine the type of television programming that is appropriate for their children,” the FCC noted, adding that the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and other legislation has attempted to ensure that “parents should be provided with timely information about the nature of upcoming video programming and have the ability to block violent, sexual, or other programming that parents believe is harmful to their children. Congress specifically excluded ratings based on political or religious content.”
As part of that, Congress told the industry it could establish their own voluntary system for rating video programming or the Commission could establish a ratings system itself. As a result, industry established the TV Oversight Management Board (TVOMB).
In the new Public Notice issued April 22, the FCC noted that “in recent years, however, significant concerns have been raised about the ratings system. For instance, commenters have raised concerns with the FCC about the accuracy of the ratings, the appropriateness of the ratings, and a shift or ratings creep in which mature, adult, or inappropriate content is being rated as appropriate for young children.”
To ensure that “the ratings system continues to serve the purpose that Congress had in mind—empowering parents to make informed decisions for their children,” the FCC said that it is seeking comment on a number of issues.
In doing so the probe reflects both the agency’s growing willingness to regulate the content of TV programming and the Trump administration’s more conservative approach to gender issues.
The Public Notice seeking comments also broaches the issue of whether more faith-based organizations should be involved in setting the ratings.
“Recently, parents have raised concerns that controversial gender identity issues are being included or promoted in children’s programs without providing any disclosure or transparency to parents,” the Public Notice stated. “Specifically, the industry guidelines that parents rely on are rating shows with transgender and gender non-binary programming as appropriate for children and young children, and doing so without providing this information to parents, thereby undermining the ability of parents to make informed choices for their families. Consistent with Congress’s vision for the ratings system, we seek comment on whether the industry’s approach is continuing to provide the information that is relevant to parents today.”
“Accordingly, we seek comment here on any changes that can or should be made to the current ratings system to ensure that it is responsive to the issues that parents confront today,” the FCC wrote.
The Public Notice also comments on how “how ratings can be applied consistently across broadcast, MVPDs, and streaming platforms” and asked for feedback on how the TVOMB operates.
“We seek comment on…regarding increased transparency of the TVOMB and accuracy of TV ratings, have been implemented…How does the TVOMB engage with the public and are the steps taken sufficient? Is the composition of the board sufficiently balanced to represent a broad range of stakeholders outside of the entertainment industry? What more could the board do to include family-oriented perspectives—which are not well represented in the media industry—in its ratings process? Should additional faith-based organizations be represented on the TVOMB?”
The full Public Notice can be accessed here.
