Fox Family To Add V-Chip Aids
By LINDA MOSS -- Multichannel News, 2/12/2001
Fox Family Channel, looking to better explain the V-chip ratings system, will begin running customized viewer advisories detailing the content of its programming, officials said last week.
The new advisories will air at the start of Fox Family's primetime shows starting March 1. The network will use those warnings in conjunction with the television industry's voluntary ratings system, which works in concert with the now-standard V-chip rating device in new TV sets.
Fox Family has created more than 30 content advisories for its shows that are series- and episode-specific. The spots combine graphics with verbal and written information about program content and its appropriateness for different age groups.
The network uses humorous animated graphics based on the universal symbol for the family, which includes two parents, male and female children, and a baby. Some of the advisories also portray non-traditional families, such as a single-parent home, depicted as a mother and two children.
"Surveys show that many viewers are confused by the V-chip ratings system and don't know what the letter descriptors mean," said Donna Mitroff, Fox Family's senior vice president of policies and practices, in a prepared statement. "The on-air system we have developed will enhance the V-chip rating system and provide viewers with the clear information they need to effectively monitor their family's television on our channel."
The advisories both explain the TV parental guidelines and offer an additional recommendation on the appropriateness of Fox Family's programs for specific age groups.
The industry-wide ratings have only one age-specific category: TV-14. Fox Family has added a recommendation for children eight and older.
"Programming that a parent finds appropriate for their 5-year-old can be quite different than what they think is appropriate for their 13-year-old," Fox Family president Maureen Smith said in a statement. "Our primetime programming occasionally deals with topics more appropriate for older kids and these advisories help parents make an educated decision."
