EAST LANSING, Mich. - Parents beware: more than one-quarter of TV shows airing on major broadcast and cable networks are not providing ratings information early enough to be published in TV Guide, according to a new study released by the Telecommunication Department in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences at Michigan State University.
That means the ratings just don't work for those relying on the publication to plan their family's viewing, said MSU telecommunication professor Bradley Greenberg.
"Despite a strong push for content ratings, three-quarters of shows that do have an age rating printed in TV Guide have no content information," Greenberg said. "This means parents are not receiving basic information in advance of the shows' airtimes and children may be watching shows that are inappropriate."
Greenberg, along with doctoral students and researchers, studied a two-month sample of television programming. The broadcast networks of ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, along with the cable networks of the Family Channel, Lifetime, TNT and USA, were selected as the prime study group. Using the Manhattan edition of TV Guide, the variables of content and age-based ratings, network, length of program, time of day and genre were examined in a study of more than 4,000 shows.
Only 2,911 identified a rating in TV Guide. TV ratings as specified in the TV Parental Guidelines include all age-based (TV-Y, TV-Y7, TV-G, TV-PG, TV-14 and TV-MA) and content-based (FV, L, S, V and D) ratings. It was found that distinct differences exist among the networks regarding the breakdown of their ratings.
Only 25 percent of shows received a content rating (excluding NBC, which does not provide content information). Currently, the TV ratings system is operated on a voluntary basis.
"Without a content indicator, parents don't know which way a show is leaning," said Matt Eastin, doctoral student and researcher. "A show can be labeled as PG, but it's the content label that really tells a parent if the show contains violence or inappropriate language."