Rating system

A television/gaming rating system is a method of giving viewers an idea of the suitability of a television/gaming program for children and/or adults.

United States

The TV Parental Guidelines system was introduced on January 1, 1997 in the United States in response to public complaints of increasingly explicit sexual content, graphic violence and strong profanity in television programs. It was established by the Federal Communications Commission as a voluntary-participation system, with ratings to be determined by the individually-participating broadcast and cable networks. It was specifically designed to be used with the V-chip, which was mandated to be built into all television sets manufactured after 2000, but the guidelines themselves have no legal force.

The system does not apply to documentary, news or sports programming, or commercials.

TV-Y (suitable for young children) Whether animated or live-action, the themes and elements in this program are specifically designed for a very young audience, including children from ages 2-6. This program is not expected to frighten younger children.
TV-Y7 (may not be suitable for children under 7) It may be more appropriate for children who have acquired the developmental skills needed to distinguish between make-believe and reality. Themes and elements in this program may include mild fantasy or comedic violence, or may frighten children under the age of 7. Therefore, parents may wish to consider the suitability of this program for their very young children. Note: For those programs where fantasy violence may be more intense than other programs in the same category, like the paticularly intense Justice League Unlimited for instance, such programs will be designated TV-Y7-FV. Some programs designated TV-Y7 may contain some mild curse words such as "damn" and "hell". Religious references also are an automatic qualification, if not elevated to TV-PG.
TV-G (suitable for all audiences) This rating does not specifically mean the program is geared towards children, though many parents will find it suitable for children. An example of this is the voting rounds of American Idol.
TV-PG (parental guidance suggested) The rating may find unsuitable for younger children, but parents may want to watch it with them. The rating may be accompanied by one or more of the following subratings: V for moderate violence S for mild sexual situations L for mild coarse language D for suggestive dialogue Many "family" programs carry this designation, as does some unamericanized anime. Shows like The Weakest Link also carry this rating.
TV-14 (parental guidance suggested for children under 14) Parents are strongly urged to exercise greater care in monitoring this program and are cautioned against letting children under the age of 14 watch unattended. This rating is very broad and common so it is often accompanied by one of the following subratings: V for intense violence S for sexual situations L for coarse language D for highly suggestive dialogue Interestingly, most programs that air after 10:00 p.m. are rated TV-14, including programs such as The Tonight Show. CBS and NBC daytime dramas carry this rating, while ABC serials mostly carry the PG rating, with an occasional 14.
TV-MA (suitable for mature audiences or adults only; originally TV-M until the fall of 1998) This program is not intended and should not be viewed by audiences under the age of 17. The program may contain extreme graphic violence, strong profanity, overt sexual dialogue and/or explicit sexual acts. South Park frequently carries a TV-MA rating, with the syndicated version receiving a TV-14 rating. The film Schindler's List (aired by NBC in February 1997 and March 1999, as well as on PBS in July 2000) was the first network TV program to display this rating. The rating may be accompanied by one of the following subratings: V for highly graphic violence S for explicit sexual situations L for strong coarse language

The "D" sub-rating is not used for TV-MA.

For the first 15 seconds of every rated program lasting a half-hour or less, a large rating icon appears in the upper-left hand corner of the TV screen. For every rated program running an hour or longer, a rating appears in the upper-left hand corner of the TV screen at the beginning of each half hour.

Starting in 2005, a rating icon is now displayed after every commercial break. ABC was one of the first television networks to display the program's rating after every commercial break in addition to at the beginning of the program. CBS, and UPN only show the icon at the start of the program, and uses the original smaller icons. On Fox networks, the ratings icons are colored blue/white and larger than the voluntary specifications and appear on the hour and half-hour (even while a show runs long), except for 4Kids TV programs, which have a regular black/white icon (4Kids Entertainment is responsible for Fox's Saturday morning programming under a time-leasing agreement with the network). Also, NBC, PBS, and their related cable networks did not use the DSLV subratings until 2005.

Syndicated programming usually shows the ratings icon at the beginning of a program, but some do not show them only after commercial breaks, depending on the producer of the program. Syndicated programs also have smaller labels most of the time. Locally-produced programming may not show any kind of icon or indicator for a rating, and it is extremely rare for public access cable channels to have any ratings.

News and sports channels (such as CNN, CNBC, Fox News Channel, ESPN, and Fox Sports Net), and broadcast news and sports shows have never used the ratings system, as live and taped sports and news events are excluded from having to be rated, though the commitments by the networks to edit out any live profanity and obscenity does remain.

The ratings can be detected by a television set device known as a V-chip. V-chips are built into all television receivers manufactured since 2000. Older sets can be retrofitted with external set-top boxes. However, the V-chips have to be activated by the set's owner, and provide only a blanket blocking for programs displaying the owner-selected primary rating(s): subratings cannot usually be selected for exemption from V-chip blockage (there are some television sets which can block subratings, however).

Some famous exceptions of live programming that got past by the censors were Bono's "this is really, really fucking brilliant" on the Golden Globe Awards, Nicole Richie's "Have you ever tried to clean cow shit out of a Prada purse? It's not so fucking simple," on the Billboard Music Awards, and one of the most infamous scenes in the history of American television, Janet Jackson's exposed breast on the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show.

Canada

In the wake of the American ratings system, the Canadian TV Classification System was created for English-language programmers to use in conjunction with the V-chip. This system differs somewhat from the American version:

Canadian ratings

C: programming suitable for children under the age of 8 years. No profanity or sexual content of any level allowed. Minimal comedic violence; nothing realistic.
C8: suitable for children over the age of 8. Low intensity violence and fantasy horror allowed. No foul language but occasional "socially offensive and discriminatory" language allowed if in the context of the story. No sex or nudity.
G: General. Similar to the Canadian/American movie rating of the same name; programming suitable for the entire family with minimal violence, and no profanity or sexual content. (Similar to U.S. rating G or (low-end) PG)
PG: Parental Guidance. Again, similar to the movie rating of the same name. Moderate use of violence and mild profanity allowed, as is brief nudity and sexual references if important to a storyline. (Similar to U.S. rating (high-end) G, PG, or (low-end) PG-13)
14+: programming intended for viewers over the age of 14. May contain intense scenes of violence, strong profanity, and depictions of sexual activity within the context of a story. (Similar to U.S. rating (high-end) PG, PG-13, or (low-end) R). This rating was applied to a recent broadcast of the movie Animal House.)
18+: equivalent to the TV-MA rating, allowing strong violence, language, and sexual activity. This rating has been applied to occasional cable broadcasts of pornographic films. (Similar to U.S. rating R or (low-end) NC-17)

French-language broadcasters use the Quebec film ratings system. There are also exemptions to some of the programming.

An E (no rating will appear on screen) is given to most news and sports programs, documentaries, talk shows, music videos and variety programming because they are exempt programs.

Quebec ratings

• G: General: appropriate for all ages with little or no violence and little to no sexual content.
• 8+: appropriate for children 8 and up with mild violence, some mild language, and some mild sexual situations.
• 13+: appropriate for teenagers 13 and up with moderate violence, language, and some sexual situations. Persons under 13 must be accompanied by an adult.
• 16+: appropriate for teenagers 16 and up with strong violence, strong language, and strong sexual content.
• 18+: only to be viewed by adults 18 and up and contains extreme violence and graphic sexual content/pornography.

An E (no rating will appear on screen) is given to exempt programming, in the same classes used for English Canadian programming above.

ESRB Rating Symbols

The ESRB ratings are designed to provide accurate and objective information about the content in computer and video games so you can make an informed purchase decision. ESRB ratings have two equal parts: rating symbols suggest age appropriateness for the game and content descriptors indicate elements in a game that may have triggered a particular rating and/or may be of interest or concern.

Titles rated EC (Early Childhood) have content that may be suitable for ages 3 and older. Contains no material that parents would find inappropriate.
Titles rated E (Everyone) have content that may be suitable for ages 6 and older. Titles in this category may contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language.
Titles rated E10+ (Everyone 10 and older) have content that may be suitable for ages 10 and older. Titles in this category may contain more cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes.
Titles rated T (Teen) have content that may be suitable for ages 13 and older. Titles in this category may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language.
Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.
Titles rated AO (Adults Only) have content that should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.
Titles listed as RP (Rating Pending) have been submitted to the ESRB and are awaiting final rating. (This symbol appears only in advertising prior to a game's release.)