WASHINGTON, DC – The Federal Communications Commission issued a statement today that it will soon require all TV stations to rate their shows when political content is part of the show. This new rating was prompted by numerous complaints from various audiences that TV shows labeled as comedy cartoons for children or documentaries often contain a significant amount of political content. This new rating will alert not only children, but also adults, not only to the political content, but it also quantifies the amount of political content through a scale from 1:00 to 10:00. 

Examples of the TV-10 rating that would be applied to shows where you would expect political content, such as news channels. A fishing news channel may have a very low rating, such as one (TV-01), depending on content; however, news channels such as CNN and Fox News may have a rating of 9 or 10, considering the significantly biased political content of their broadcast. Other shows mentioned include those by the FCC, such as comedy, entertainment, or satirical shows, including late-night talk shows and Saturday Night Live. The TV shows, due to the significant unexpected, often biased political content, would land a score of 9-10. A documentary on the World’s oceans would be assigned a score of 1; however, if a former US President were to narrate the show, the score would be slightly higher. Under the Current TV rating system, the TV stations themselves rate their shows; however, for this new rating, the FCC will issue the rating to be posted.

We reached out to the FCC to understand who would provide the ratings; however, we received no response.