A Decade of Deceit How TV Content Ratings Have Failed Families EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Major Findings
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A Decade of Deceit How TV Content Ratings Have Failed Families EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Major Findings: In its recent report to Congress on the accuracy of • Programs rated TV-PG contained on average the TV ratings and effectiveness of oversight, the 28% more violence and 43.5% more Federal Communications Commission noted that the profanity in 2017-18 than in 2007-08. system has not changed in over 20 years. • Profanity on PG-rated shows included suck/ Indeed, it has not, but content has, and the TV blow, screw, hell/damn, ass/asshole, bitch, ratings fail to reflect “content creep,” (that is, an bastard, piss, bleeped s—t, bleeped f—k. increase in offensive content in programs with The 2017-18 season added “dick” and “prick” a given rating as compared to similarly-rated to the PG-rated lexicon. programs a decade or more ago). Networks are packing substantially more profanity and violence into youth-rated shows than they did a decade ago; • Violence on PG-rated shows included use but that increase in adult-themed content has not of guns and bladed weapons, depictions affected the age-based ratings the networks apply. of fighting, blood and death and scenes We found that on shows rated TV-PG, there was a of decapitation or dismemberment; The 28% increase in violence; and a 44% increase in only form of violence unique to TV-14 rated profanity over a ten-year period. There was also a programming was depictions of torture. more than twice as much violence on shows rated TV-14 in the 2017-18 television season than in the • Programs rated TV-14 contained on average 2007-08 season, both in per-episode averages and 84% more violence per episode in 2017-18 in absolute terms. than in 2007-08. • There was over 150% more violence, and 62% more profanity total, on programs rated TV-14 in 2017-2018 than in 2007-2008. • In 2007-2008, there were more programs rated TV-PG [346] than programs rated TV-14 [273]. In 2017-2018, the opposite was true [224 PG vs. 383 TV-14]. • In February 2008, programs rated TV-PG outnumbered those rated TV-14 by more than 2-to-1; in February 2018, TV-14 content outnumbered PG content in almost the same This is the tenth report from the Parents Television Council on the TV content ratings system. This study ratio. seeks to document changes in program content over the last decade and to determine whether the • There were no G-rated programs on Fox, TV content ratings have accurately reflected the CW, or ABC (even though ABC is owned by increase in explicit content. More specifically, what Disney) in any of the “sweeps” periods, in changes in adult-themed content have we seen either 2007-2008 or 2017-2018. over ten years on programs that were rated as appropriate for children to watch? • The overall number of G-rated shows in 2017-2018 was almost identical to that a PTC entertainment analysts recorded and decade earlier: five or fewer. Some “sweeps” documented every instance of violence, sexual periods contained no G-rated programming dialogue, sexual actions, and foul language, and the at all. content ratings assigned to each episode, during the November, February, and May “sweeps” periods in 2007-08, and again a decade later, 2017-18 on prime-time broadcast network television. It has been more than 150 days since the FCC delivered its report to Congress. The television industry and the TV Parental Guidelines Oversight Monitoring Board (TVOMB) have had over four months to act on the FCC’s findings that Hollywood should do a better job, and that the public concern about the system’s accuracy merits additional action. The Industry responded by insisting “the Monitoring Board is always interested in improving and is considering the feedback compiled by the FCC and its report.” But no public actual action has been taken to improve the accuracy, reliability, transparency or consistency of the TV ratings. It is time for the TV content ratings system to reflect the realities of today’s entertainment media technologies and cultural landscape. Bold, positive and comprehensive improvements to a 22-year old system are needed to bring it into the 21st century. It is time for the TV content ratings system to reflect the realities of today’s entertainment media technologies and cultural landscape. Bold, positive and comprehensive improvements to a 22-year old system are needed to bring it into the 21st century. It is time for the TV content ratings system to reflect the realities of today’s entertainment media technologies and cultural landscape. If parents are to protect their children from explicit, adult-themed program content, then bold, positive and comprehensive improvements to a 22-year old system are needed to bring it into the 21st century. INTRODUCTION The TV industry tells parents that TV Content Ratings are the last line of defense between children and inappropriate content. The Federal Government has a limited oversight role to play, but they were spurred to action recently. The 2019 Federal Appropriations bill included language requiring the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to report on the accuracy of the television content ratings system and the ability of the TV Parental Guidelines Oversight Monitoring Board (TVOMB) to address public concerns about those ratings. The FCC’s final report, issued in the spring of 2019, affirmed what the PTC has been saying for years about the numerous, intrinsic failings of the TV content ratings system, concluding that Hollywood should do a better job, and that the public concern about the system’s accuracy merits additional action. But the report’s last twelve words were perhaps the most important: “We note the ratings system has not changed in over 20 years.” While it is true that the ratings system has not changed in over 20 years, content has. And the current ratings system has not only failed to reflect changes in content and the way content is accessed, the system has arguably facilitated the rapid deterioration of broadcast standards and permitted “ratings creep,” a marked increase in offensive content in programs with a given rating as compared to similarly-rated programs a decade or more ago. This is the PTC’s tenth report on TV ratings. Whereas past PTC ratings studies have attempted to document inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the TV ratings, this study seeks to document extent of “ratings creep” – the expansion of adult-themed content into shows rated appropriate for children to watch – over a ten-year period. BACKGROUND Most parents do not feel the current ratings system is achieving its purpose. A 2011 IBOPE Zogby International poll found that 75% of Americans surveyed said that there is too much sex, violence and coarse language on television. In a 2007 Zogby International poll, almost 90% said that they have never used the V-chip or parental controls to block programs, and an incredible 92% couldn’t explain what the industry’s D, L, S and V content descriptors stand for. This clearly demonstrates that parents WANT an effective and trustworthy content ratings system…but they don’t trust and don’t understand the one that exists now – and has existed for over 20 years. A 2014 poll in Costco Connection Magazine found an astonishing 97% of readers agreed that we should rethink the rating system for television and film. In fact, the only public opinion polls that show support for or satisfaction with the existing ratings system are those paid for by the industry. And it is not only parents who find the current system inadequate. A 2016 study published in the medical journal Pediatrics found that the current TV content ratings “were ineffective in discriminating shows for 3 out of 4 behaviors studied [violence, sexual behavior, alcohol use, and smoking in TV shows]. Even in shows rated for children as young as 7 years, violence was prevalent, prominent, and salient.” Since their inception, the ratings given to television programs have been – and still are – grossly inaccurate. Programming inappropriate for younger teens has been rated TV-PG, instead of TV-14; programs with content inappropriate even for older teenagers has been rated TV-14 instead of TV-MA (mature audiences only). The rating descriptors (D, L, S, and V), supposedly implemented to designate sexual Dialogue, profane Language, Sexual depictions, and Violence, are frequently misapplied, or are simply not used at all. The TV content ratings are ineffective in their stated purpose. Program creators constantly seek to “push the envelope” on their program’s content…and network executives enable them by delivering such programs to the widest possible audience (including children) by mis-rating them. This has been acknowledged by those in the entertainment industry themselves: “[We’re] all about pushing the boundaries. There is a lot of drinking and recreational drug use and [the network] has reinforced and celebrated the tone of the show. ABC has been super supportive. [emphasis added] Nothing has been thrown out or questioned.” Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 writer/producer Nahnatchka Khan (The Hollywood Reporter, April 11, 2012). “We’ve given broadcast standards a run for their money…We got away with murder.” New Girl executive producer Brett Baer (The Hollywood Reporter, November 5, 2014). “Language-wise, when I watch a lot of network television now, I’m shocked by the discourse. It’s pretty foulmouthed on regular 8, 8:30, 9 o’clock shows. Lots of penis discussion, three-way jokes, boob jokes.” — David Mandel, executive producer for HBO’s Veep (The Hollywood Reporter, May 11, 2016).