PTC: Family Hour Isn't for Families
Parents Television Council: Sexual Content, Violence Up During 8 p.m.-9 p.m. Time Period
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/5/2007 10:54:00 AM
The Parents Television Council said the family hour on TV is no place for kids.
In a new content analysis of the 8-9 time period on ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, The CW and My NetworkTV, the PTC concluded that sexual content increased 22.1% in the hour since its last study in 2000-01 and that violence was up by 52.4%.
Scripted shows were the biggest offenders, with 16.88 instances per hour of "foul" content, which included swearing, bleeped swearing, sexual content and pixilated sexual content, and violence, including surgeries.
Unscripted shows averaged only 5.82 per hour, while game shows were the cleanest fare at 0.31 per hour.
The PTC has called for a return to more family fare from 8 p.m.-9 p.m. -- a call that has been echoed by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin. It was PTC complaints about various shows that helped to spur the FCC's tougher enforcement of indecency rules.
Jim Dyke, who heads the industry's TV Watch campaign promoting the v-chip/ratings system, said PTC was off base. "For starters, kids should only be watching programming that is appropriate for them all day," he said. "The world of TV has changed and it shouldn't be about a single hour but about parents making decisions based on the ratings, and enforcing those decisions using the blocking technologies, if they so chose, so that their child sees what is appropriate for their age, maturity level, and family standard."
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I wonder why the media continues to run around the PTC like they have anything important to say. There were around fifteen murders in Chicago this weekend, and I don't see the PTC do anything about guns. I am sick and tired of these right-wing groups trying to dictate what people watch on TV while there are children getting gunned down on the streets! If you don't like what's on TV, change the channel! How hard is it to understand?
T Dog - 9/5/2007 3:31:00 PM EDT -
I am so frustrated with the shows on tv anymore. Unfortunately, there really are very few good, clean shows to watch. It truly has gotten worse over the years, and that''s why I usually watch TVland and game shows more than anything else. My grandson is 8 yrs. old, and it really worries me about what he might see on tv. I''ve even seen a cartoon movie that had a profanity word in it. I didn''t see why they thought it was necessary to put that in there. Please help clean up our tv viewing!!!!!!!
Carla Nicholson - 9/5/2007 1:24:00 PM EDT
