TV Executives Walk Out of Talks on New Ratings Plan

WASHINGTON — Television executives, angry that Vice President Al Gore had entered the negotiations on the other side, abruptly broke off talks with parents’ groups Thursday over revising the industry’s voluntary system of rating television programs.

Gore, after meeting with parents’ groups and congressional leaders Thursday, urged the industry to augment the age-based ratings system it launched in January with symbols that indicate whether programs contain potentially objectionable sex, violence or language.

The White House, at the request of the television industry, until now had largely refrained from entering the fray. But Gore’s actions on Thursday appeared to represent far more than the administration’s decision to take an active role in the dispute; the White House seemed to have taken sides.

“Now more than ever, it’s time for the industry to put the ‘V’ back in the V-chip,” Gore said in a statement, referring to the computer chip that by law must be installed in new TV sets beginning next year to allow parents to screen programs carrying unsatisfactory ratings.

“We need a ‘V’ to tell us when our youngest children could be exposed to violence,” Gore added, endorsing the demand of parents’ and children’s groups for a content-based ratings system that would add s, v and l symbols--and possibly d, for suggestive dialogue--to existing categories.

The industry’s current rating categories are G (suitable for general audiences), PG (parental guidance suggested), TV-14 (unsuitable for those under 14) and TV-MA (for mature audiences).

Gore is the latest public figure, including influential members of Congress, to side with the parents in their demand for a more informative ratings system. But having the vice president weigh in apparently proved too much for the industry leaders.

In a terse statement, representatives of the National Assn. of Broadcasters, the National Cable Television Assn. and the Motion Picture Assn. of America said that “due to the vice president’s unwarranted intervention in the process,” they had pulled out of the talks “until further notice.”

Television executives were angry at Gore and the children’s groups. “The vice president has injected himself, at the groups’ requests, into the fine points of negotiating,” one industry executive said. “This is a breach of our understanding with the groups that we wouldn’t use our elected-official allies against each other.”

Gore’s position appeared to differ significantly from statements by President Clinton. At a news conference Dec. 13, Clinton called for giving the industry’s rating system “10 months to work.” If the ratings proved “inadequate, or there needs to be some more content in the ratings systems,” he said, “then, after a 10-month test period, we’ll be able to make that argument.”

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Since the networks began using the ratings in January, a 10-month trial period would not end until October.

And on Dec. 19, when Jack Valenti, head of the MPAA, formally unveiled the industry ratings, Clinton hailed the plan, saying: “This is a huge step forward over what we have now, which is nothing.”

Still, the industry’s decision to break off the talks with the parents’ groups could prove risky. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) and other members of Congress have warned the industry that they will begin Tuesday to write a tougher TV ratings system into law if the industry does not accept one voluntarily.

A spokeswoman for Gore called the industry’s action “unfortunate” and expressed hope that the group would “resume the talks as soon as possible.”

Meanwhile, the Federal Communications Commission--hoping that the two sides will reach some agreement--postponed its review of the ratings system. The FCC hearing, originally scheduled for today, now is slated for July 14.

* RATED SCARY

The government has no business sticking its nose into TV program content, Howard Rosenberg writes. F1