February 8, 1996
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 is signed into law by President Bill Clinton. The law called upon the entertainment industry to establish a voluntary television rating system to provide parents with information about material in television programming that would work the V-Chip.
February 29, 1996
All segments of the entertainment industry — led by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), NCTA - The Internet & Television Association and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) — voluntarily pledged to create a television ratings system. The industry formed a Working Group, under the leadership of then-MPAA President Jack Valenti, that represented all segments of the entertainment industry. The Group conducted regional focus groups and a national poll seeking information on what parents might want in a television rating system. They also met and consulted with scores of parental, medical, religious, child advocacy and educational groups to listen to their views on how the parental guidelines system should be structured.
December 19, 1996
The television industry announced the creation of the TV Parental Guidelines, a voluntary system of guidelines providing parents with advance, cautionary information to help them make more informed choices about the television programs their families watch. A TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board (Monitoring Board), comprised of TV industry experts, was also created to help ensure accuracy, uniformity and consistency of the guidelines and to consider public questions and complaints about the guidelines applied to a particular program.
January 17, 1997
The television industry submitted the TV Parental Guidelines to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for consideration. In the spring of 1997, then-Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) held a hearing on the ratings system and received testimony from child advocacy experts and members of the entertainment industry. Additionally, then-House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-LA) held a field hearing in Peoria, Illinois. The comments received at the FCC and in these congressional hearings overwhelmingly supported providing additional content information as part of the ratings system.
Spring/Summer of 1997
The television industry, in consultation with the medical and child advocacy community, discussed potential options for revising the TV Parental Guidelines. The following organizations participated in these discussions: the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American Medical Association (AMA), the American Psychological Association (APA), the Center for Media Education (CME), the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), Children Now, National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), the National Education Association (NEA), and the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA).
July 10, 1997
The television industry and the public advocacy community announced a revised TV Parental Guideline System consisting of age- and content-based ratings. Download the announcement.
August 1, 1997
NAB, NCTA and MPAA submitted the revised ratings system to the FCC for review. Under this revised system, television programming would continue to fall into one of the six ratings categories (TV-Y, TV-Y7, TV-G, TV-PG, TV-14, TV-MA). Additionally, content descriptors of D (suggestive dialogue), L (language), S (sexual content), V (violence) and FV (fantasy violence — exclusively for the TV-Y7 category) would be included in the ratings where appropriate. Industry also committed to inserting rating icons and associated content symbols for 15 seconds at the beginning of all rated programming, and increasing the size of the icons. Finally, the revised proposal called for the addition of five representatives of the advocacy community to the Monitoring Board. The revised guidelines were supported by leading family and child advocacy groups, as well as television broadcasters, cable systems and networks, and television production companies.
March 12, 1998
The FCC found that the Industry Video Programming Rating System was acceptable and subsequently adopted the technical requirements for the V-Chip.
August 1, 1997
NAB, NCTA and MPAA submitted the revised ratings system to the FCC for review. Under this revised system, television programming would continue to fall into one of the six ratings categories (TV-Y, TV-Y7, TV-G, TV-PG, TV-14, TV-MA). Additionally, content descriptors of D (suggestive dialogue), L (language), S (sexual content), V (violence) and FV (fantasy violence — exclusively for the TV-Y7 category) would be included in the ratings where appropriate. Industry also committed to inserting rating icons and associated content symbols for 15 seconds at the beginning of all rated programming, and increasing the size of the icons. Finally, the revised proposal called for the addition of five representatives of the advocacy community to the Monitoring Board. The revised guidelines were supported by leading family and child advocacy groups, as well as television broadcasters, cable systems and networks, and television production companies.
April 6, 2012
The TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board delivers key findings of a recent survey conducted on the TV Parental Guidelines to the FCC. More than 90 percent of parents say they are aware of the TV Parental Guidelines ratings system, while over two-thirds say they use the ratings to manage their family TV viewing, according to this new study conducted on behalf of the Monitoring Board.
June 12, 2014
The TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board releases key findings of a survey that found almost 95 percent of parents say they are aware of the TV ratings system, while 72 percent of parents say they use the TV ratings system to manage their family TV viewing. Additionally, 84 percent of parents find the TV ratings system helpful.
July 14, 2016
The TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board releases key findings of a recent survey conducted on the TV Parental Guidelines that revealed that 77 percent of parents use the ratings system, an increase from similar studies released in 2014 and 2012. The study also showed that more than nine in 10 parents are aware of the ratings for television programs and some 96 percent of parents polled said they are satisfied with the accuracy of the ratings for shows on television.
October 24, 2018
The TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board releases key findings of a recent survey conducted on the TV Parental Guidelines that revealed that three in four parents use the ratings system. The study also showed that more than nine in 10 parents are aware of the ratings for television programs and some 95 percent of parents polled said they are satisfied with the accuracy of the ratings for shows on television.
January 15, 2020
The TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board releases its first-ever annual report detailing activities undertaken by the Monitoring Board throughout 2019 to increase awareness of the TV Parental Guidelines and ensure that TV ratings were applied on a consistent basis across networks and programs. Among these efforts were the launch of the new, mobile-friendly website in both English and Spanish, the rebrand of the TV Parental Guidelines logo, the publication of a revised and downloadable fact sheet and the creation of downloadable web stickers.
2020
The TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board creates a Streaming Task Force after an August 2020 survey of parents conducted on behalf of the Board revealed that 84% of children are watching some content via streaming services. The Task Force aims to engage in conversations with Board member companies that operate some of the newest and most popular video streaming services available today, including Discovery+, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Paramount+, Peaco*ck, and Tubi, to examine how ratings information is incorporated into these and other streaming platforms.
