Television Rating Systems

Television ratings provide useful information for
advertising companies, TV producers, and parents. The
companies that offer such a service are publicly or
privately sponsored and the information is used to buy and
sell TV time as well as make program decisions. 

A forerunner for television ratings was a study, sponsored
by the cable TV industry, on the effects of violence on
children. The result heightened the need for program
guidelines and limitations which were subsequently self
imposed by the program produces. The study revealed that
"psychologically harmful" violence was prevalent on
broadcast and cable television programs and that the risks
to viewers involved learning to behave violently, becoming
more desensitized to the harmful consequences of violence
and becoming more fearful of being attacked.
 
The study recommended that producers and others in the
television business limit the amount of violence and
increase the number of viewer advisories. It also suggested
that parents watch television with their children and
critically evaluate the programs with them.
 
A well known television rating company on whom the industry
and public rely is the Nielsen Media Research. It provides
television information services in the United States and
Canada serving national and local customers. The company
began in 1923 and was one of the first research companies
to measure the audience for the radio broadcasting and
advertising industry. In 1950 it expanded to include
television. The data is collected by means of an electronic
measurement system called the Nielsen People Meter. These
meters are placed in a sample of 5000 households in the
United States, randomly selected by the Nielsen Media
Company. The meter measures what programs or channel is
being tuned and who is watching. The information is stored
in the metering system and automatically retrieved by NMR
computers. 

The TV Parental Guidelines is another rating system that is
designed to help parents decide which shows are appropriate
for their children. The ratings are broken into two parts;
age based or audience rating and content-based ratings. The
ratings are usually displayed in the TV guide and at the
start of a show in the upper left hand corner of the TV
screen. The rating system is voluntary and the network or
producer of each show is the one that decides on a
program's rating. 

There many other rating companies in existence who are
attempting to call attention to the importance of
television guidelines. The bottom line however lies with
the viewer as to what type of program is desired for
viewing