Talk:TV Parental Guidelines

Rating icons
Should rating icons' background should be white background, black writing or black background and white writing? tablo (talk) 18:54, 26 July 2009 (UTC)
 * White on black is standard.  GraYoshi2x► talk 22:27, 26 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Can someone get another "white on black" icon that doesn't have area left over for subratings? It's quite bugging me. tablo (talk) 21:47, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

I disagree; most content rating symbols I see have black text on white background. Sometimes I see transparent text on white background or semi-transparent text with semi-transparent border, other times I see white on black but it's not that common. SuperWatsonater (talk) 16:19, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

TV-MA D?
MANswers on SPike uses the D on TV-MA 70.238.184.156 (talk) 22:15, 2 August 2009 (UTC)

TV-MA
This section was repeated twice in a row for some reason, duplicates removed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sandroboy123 (talk • contribs) 02:15, 13 December 2009 (UTC)

iCarly
iCarly is npo longer TV-Y7 now it's TV-G in syndication Matthew Cantrell (talk) 11:03, 21 August 2009 (UTC)

ABC rating icons
Looks like ABC sometimes uses Tahoma, and sometimes a sans-serif font that looks similar to Helvetica. Does anyone know what it is? tablo (talk) 03:23, 26 November 2009 (UTC)

Rating for TV-B?
Why there is a such thing called it TV-B?--Jasonfitz (talk) 00:53, 6 October 2010 (UTC)

CMT
CMT uses a black rating icon with the lettering in Times New Roman and it's white —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.56.143.72 (talk) 03:53, 24 October 2010 (UTC)

Examples
Having examples of all the appearances of ratings is extraneous and intricate. Perhaps getting rid of or slimming it down moderately could help? Omoder (talk) 21:35, 29 May 2011 (UTC)

Conflicting dates
The lead claims the system "was first proposed on December 19, 1996 by the United States Congress, the television industry and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and went into effect by January 1, 1997", which seems insanely fast. The Development sections says "In the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the United States Congress..." and the article for that act says "The Act was approved by the 104th Congress on January 3, 1996 and signed into law on February 8, 1996 by President Bill Clinton."

A few paragraphs down, the lead's date is used for an entirely different event: "On December 19, 1996, the industry announced the creation of the TV Parental Guidelines..."

Can someone familiar with this topic correct the discrepancy? Msgohan (talk) 22:40, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

The whole Development of the guidelines section plus the History section of the V-chip article could use a good revision. Here are some links that provide some background:
 * Nets Adopt Violence Code
 * Schumer Wants Violence Rating for TV Shows
 * Washington Watch

And those are just for starters. The issue really is that the networks and the MPAA were afraid of a congressional mandate dealing with violence on TV, so they eventually came up with a counter proposal. Congressman Ed Markey's V-chip proposal was already in Congress by 1994. I wish I knew of an easily cited source that would say all this but I don't. --L. Robert Taylor (talk) 12:15, 23 November 2017 (UTC)

Why you put this there?
IMPORTANT NOTE: Please DO NOT add any more examples of shows. We do not need a comprehensive or all-inclusive list of every show that broadcasts within the United States. This is not a place to promote your favorite TV show. Any edit doing so is non-constructive  | and will be reverted. Thank you.

What the heck is this? Wikipedia is supposed to be The Free Encyclopedia, not Unfree. That ruins the magic of Wikipedia. Shkarter1985 (talk) 10:37, 18 May 2012 (UTC)

TV-G-L?!
I always thought it was TV-PG-L who put this crap? Matthew Cantrell (talk) 04:11, 18 August 2012 (UTC)

Restricted vs unrestricted TV ratings
When did this restricted/unrestricted thing come up? No mention of it on the official site... tablo (talk) 23:29, 21 September 2012 (UTC)

nonsense
"Sex may be seen and completely visible or on HD" Aside from the fact that the syntax of this phrase is incomprehensible, where does it say that high def content is subject to a different rating than standard def? Bustter (talk) 18:31, 22 December 2012 (UTC)

Am I correct on this?
TV rating color: Black = Kid-friendly? TV rating color: White = Material that may be unsuitable for children, adult programming? — Preceding unsigned comment added by BuddyBixby419 (talk • contribs) 17:17, 16 July 2013 (UTC)
 * No. Either can be used, it's just a matter of which provides better contrast, or network preference. No systematic differences. oknazevad (talk) 20:48, 16 July 2013 (UTC)

Industry Video Programming Rating System
In the last sentence of the last paragraph of the section titled "Development of the guidelines", "Industry Video Programming Rating System" is capitalized, indicating that it is a proper name. However, the name "Video Programming Rating System" does not appear anywhere within the referenced FCC document. HankW512 (talk) 03:38, 20 October 2013 (UTC)

Vandalism
I have found vandalism on this page which has not been reverted.

Here's what I did to remove it: I reverted to the very old revision (see here). 99.121.209.170 (talk) 17:17, 29 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Thanks. oknazevad (talk) 18:10, 29 August 2015 (UTC)

TV-MA
The official site states that programs rated TV-MA may have the L, S, or V descriptor. 108.71.122.17 (talk) 21:24, 15 March 2017 (UTC)

TV-Y7-FV
The official site states that FV is a content descriptor. 108.71.122.17 (talk) 21:24, 15 March 2017 (UTC)

V-Chip (basically...)
The FCC defines any device with a screen 13 inches or larger, with a TV tuner as a television. 108.71.122.17 (talk) 21:25, 15 March 2017 (UTC)

"D" in TV-MA
"D – Suggestive dialogue (not used with the TV-MA rating"

The source does not say that "D" is "not used" with TV-MA. Rather, it simply does not list D as one of the reasons a program may be rated TV-MA. - Sum mer PhD v2.0 21:28, 15 March 2017 (UTC)
 * Read that again. If you look under TV-MA, it says it may have only L, S, or V content descriptors. 108.71.122.17 (talk) 21:35, 15 March 2017 (UTC)
 * It does not say it may have "only" L, S, or V. It says "This program may contain one or more of the following..." You are assuming that because it does not say that it may have a D that it therefore may not have a D. It does not say that the show may have Bruce Willis in it. Is it therefore saying Willis cannot be in a TV-MA show?
 * You do not have a source saying D is not used with TV-MA. Therefore, the article should not say that D is not used with TV-MA. - Sum mer PhD v2.0 21:49, 15 March 2017 (UTC)
 * It says it may contain one or more of L, S, and V, NOT D, L, S, and V (as in TV-14 and TV-PG). 108.71.122.17 (talk) 22:04, 15 March 2017 (UTC)
 * It says it may contain one or more of L, S, and V. It does not say it may not have a D, which is what you are trying to add. It does not say it may have Bruce Willis. Should we say TV-MA may not have a D or Bruce Willis? - Sum mer PhD v2.0 23:05, 15 March 2017 (UTC)
 * OK, now you're going into WP:LEGS territory. 108.71.122.17 (talk) 23:59, 15 March 2017 (UTC)
 * You want the source to say something it does not. If it is significant that D is not listed, reliable sources will discuss it. - Sum mer PhD v2.0 01:12, 16 March 2017 (UTC)
 * The point is: TV-MA-D ratings can exist, but very rarely. 108.71.121.102 (talk) 02:37, 16 March 2017 (UTC)
 * You previously claimed the D is not used with the TV-MA rating. Now you are saying TV-MA-D can exist, but very rarely. You will need to provide a reliable source to say either one. - Sum mer PhD v2.0 02:53, 16 March 2017 (UTC)
 * Which is what you've been saying the whole time: TV-MA-D does exist, but VERY rarely used. 108.71.121.183 (talk) 16:04, 16 March 2017 (UTC)
 * I did not say that. I have said the source does not say anything about D in TV-MA. Our article previously said it was rare. You tried to change this to D is not used. You just decided it is rarely used.
 * The source does not say, therefore Wikipedia should not say. - Sum mer PhD v2.0 17:41, 16 March 2017 (UTC)
 * This edit is disruptive nonsense. Time for another block. - Sum mer PhD v2.0 17:43, 16 March 2017 (UTC)

Discussion About The "Design" Section
"previously this had a compulsory design but currently goes with a network's branding scheme. The icon was much smaller until June 2005 and only appeared on-screen for 7.5 seconds. For every rated program running an hour or longer, a rating appears in the upper-left hand corner of the television screen at the beginning of each half-hour. Starting in June 2005, many networks now display the ratings after every commercial break, in addition to the beginning of the program. Ratings icons formerly appeared in the 4:3 safe area, even with a 16:9 HD-designed presentation, but have moved into the top-left corner of the 16:9 picture as time has went on."

Most of the "facts" in this section are "sort of true". They either need to be attributed to a primary source or be rewritten. As far as I know, the only primary document is the industry letter to the FCC - Jack Valenti; et al, which specifies only three things: 1. "The guideline icon will be displayed for 15 seconds at the beginning of each program in the upper left-hand corner of the screen." 2. "It will be displayed again at the beginning of the second hour of longer programs." and 3. "The icons will occupy 40 scan lines on the television screen." It is true that at the beginning the broadcast networks used the "industry" designed icons, but it was never compulsory. Basically my point is that other than the three industry "promises", everything else is at the discretion of the individual network and it is incorrect to generalize. Your comments/discussion are most welcome. L. Robert Taylor (talk) 09:27, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Requested move 1 April 2019

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the move request was: Moved (non-admin closure) Iffy★Chat -- 08:19, 9 April 2019 (UTC)

TV parental guidelines (US) → TV Parental Guidelines – According to the official site the name is a proper name (other sources that use it:, ). This was also the title of the article until moved in 2017, seemingly without any discussion. Gonnym (talk) 20:25, 1 April 2019 (UTC)
 * Support. Failing that, I would move it to TV parental guidelines (United States). --IJBall (contribs • talk) 20:51, 1 April 2019 (UTC)
 * Support but also note that TV parental guidelines is a redlink, so already unnecessary disambiguation. -- Netoholic @ 21:07, 1 April 2019 (UTC)
 * Support Move was never needed in the first place as this is the only ratings system with this name.  Nate  • ( chatter ) 23:14, 3 April 2019 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Additional detail for TV-14?
In our description we say "moderate suggestive themes", however I think that undersells things a bit. TV-14 allows for non-explicit sexual content which is a bit stronger wording. TV-14 rated shows like Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder, in terms of sexual content they push things right up to the line of TV-MA, as do some daytime soap operas - the only thing absent is the nudity in some cases. I considered changing the wording myself but I'm not certain if the wording we used is the same as that used by the ratings governing body (in which case they're the ones underselling). 50.66.121.20 (talk) 13:44, 5 May 2019 (UTC)

Do we need to add rating icons for every television program on Wikipedia?
Every television program on Wikipedia needs to add rating icons for the suitability of watching programs. If you think the program is rated TV-Y, TV-Y7, TV-G, TV-PG, TV-14, or TV-MA (even if it include these content descriptors; D, L, S, V, FV, or E/I), please add these icons to the correct program immediately, or else it will be required.

Use this template and add these icons to the correct program: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:Other_versions/TV_rating_icons. DesktopTech2020 (talk) 17:14, 16 August 2020 (UTC)


 * ”Required” by whom? Is it seriously being suggested that editors add the template based on what they think rather than what can be reliably cited?  And what of programmes in countries that don’t subscribe to the US system? Mr Larrington (talk) 19:54, 2 January 2021 (UTC)

Subject
I respect the honesty. Please don't target me. I do however think that maybe these issues need to be discussed in a more mature way with me. 174.215.189.202 (talk) 00:51, 14 April 2022 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 02:52, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
 * TV Parental Guidelines.png