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Parents Television Council
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The Parents Television Council (PTC) is a US-based nonprofit organization founded by conservative activist L. Brent Bozell III. With a stated goal to "promote and restore responsibility to the entertainment industry", the Council seeks to inform parents of television programs or other entertainment products that it considers beneficial or harmful to the development of children through such publications on its website including reviews, research reports, and online newsletters.
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Encyclopedia
The Parents Television Council (PTC) is a US-based nonprofit organization founded by conservative activist L. Brent Bozell III. With a stated goal to "promote and restore responsibility to the entertainment industry", the Council seeks to inform parents of television programs or other entertainment products that it considers beneficial or harmful to the development of children through such publications on its website including reviews, research reports, and online newsletters. Campaigns run by the Council include allowing subscribers to select and pay for only the cable channels that they prefer to watch, holding advertisers accountable for the television programs that they sponsor, and trying to keep children from watching television content they deem to be harmful and negative.
Over the years, the PTC has launched several campaigns in response to perceived "indecency" on television programs. Such campaigns have also involved filing complaints with the FCC, with the PTC succeeding on a few occasions. The PTC has generated the majority of complaints over perceived indecent television content, whether through letter-writing complaints or indecency complaints filed with the FCC.
The organization considers itself nonpartisan others have considered the PTC to be bipartisan or socially conservative. Bozell was the president of the organization from 1995 to 2007, after which he was succeeded by Tim Winter.
Foundation
The Parents Television Council was initially a branch of the Media Research Center focusing on entertainment television; MRC president L. Brent Bozell III, who had already been monitoring entertainment through that organization, felt that decency was declining on most prime-time television programming. The organization began operations in 1995 following private planning meetings with Charlton Heston, Michael Medved, and other entertainment industry leaders, who would eventually make up the Advisory Board of the PTC. After the release of its first annual Family Guide to Prime-Time Television following the 1995-1996 television season, the PTC hoped to hold the entertainment industry accountable for the indecency that it perceived to be prominent on prime-time television. By 1996, the organization had the support of several members of the U.S. Congress, including Joe Lieberman and Lamar Smith, and an estimated annual budget of $142,000.
By 1998, with an estimated membership of 120,000, comedian and former Tonight Show host Steve Allen joined PTC as its Honorary Chairman, and PTC became prominent for releasing a report questioning the accuracy of the TV Parental Guidelines ratings system and campaigning for advertisers to stop sponsoring programs that the PTC claimed were offensive. Allen launched a newspaper advertisement campaign promoting the PTC, which was published in many outlets including The New York Times. The PTC was noted for criticizing such shows as Ally McBeal, Dawson's Creek, Ellen, Friends, and Spin City. Its website was also introduced that year, and its annual budget had already surpassed $1 million.
Publications
Columns & reports
The of the PTC features reports on what they find to be harmful content on television and regular writings from its staff. Their research is done with the support of their Entertainment Tracking System, an archive of prime-time television programming that they claim is the largest in the world. Such publications include:
- "Culture Watch" - Throughout 2006, the PTC published columns under this series authored by Christopher Gildemeister, covering the influence on American culture by entertainment as well as exposing the increase in sex, violence, and profanity in cable television and the methods used by advertisers and broadcasting companies to attract young audiences.
- "Parenting and the Media" authored by Rod Gustafson, where he offers advice on parenting children who frequent the media.
- "TV Trends" - Another column by Christopher Gildemeister, published since October 2007 intending to inform parents and TV viewers in general about what he perceives to be "harmful or questionable prime-time programming.".
- Former president Bozell's weekly entertainment column, which it links to within the home page
The Council, in 2003, also released a report on Spanish programming on the major Spanish networks serving the United States, Telemundo and Univision, claiming that programming on those networks tends to have more sexual content but less profanity or violence than on English-language networks.
In a report titled Wolves in Sheep's Clothing, which documents the increase in potentially violent, profane, and sexual content in children's programming, the PTC allegedly misinterpreted the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Sailor Mouth". The episode originally aired during the 2001–2002 television season, ironically the season in which the PTC named SpongeBob SquarePants among the best programs on cable television, but the report cited a repeat broadcast of the episode from 2005 to prove its point that it promoted use of profanity among children. However, a countering report argued that the episode went against the use of profanity.
In 2008, PTC published a report titled Happily Never After, using analysis of several primetime shows early in the 2007-2008 television season to assert that extramarital sex is favored on television shows.
Entertainment reviews and analysis
The PTC's activities extend to evaluation, rating, and educating around broadcast TV programs according to a "traffic light" system across three categories of sex, violence and profanity, accumulating to an overall rating based on the ratings of these three categories. The guide has been in use since the 1995-1996 season using the traffic light system.
In the PTC's definition of its traffic light system, green light indicates that the program is "appropriate for all ages", a yellow light indicates that the program is "appropriate for junior high schoolers and older", and a red light indicates that the program is "appropriate for adult audiences only" Each evaluation contains credits for the executive producer, creator, and production company of the show, the network broadcasting the show, a brief summary, content evaluation, and age recommendation.
The current list of all shows evaluated by the council dates back to the 2003–2004 TV season; Just Shoot Me is the only show aired before that season to be included in the list. Although the guide focuses on primetime programming on the broadcast networks, there are a few cable shows that the PTC has formally evaluated under the "traffic light" system: Greek (originally developed for ABC Family with reruns on the main ABC channel), Monk, and Rescue Me. The PTC has also used their "Family Guide" to spread their campaigns; it has done so for The Real World, Sex and the City, The Shield, and Skin
Every television season since 1995–1996, the council has released a list of the best and worst prime-time television programs for family viewing. The PTC's website includes the guide from the 1996-97 season at the earliest. Starting with the 2005–2006 season, their list was based on their traffic light system as well as Nielsen Media Research ratings of viewership among children ages 2–17 of certain shows. Popular shows that have frequently been praised as the most family-friendly programs on television include George Lopez, 7th Heaven, Touched by an Angel, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Boy Meets World, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, NBC Sunday Night Football, and Deal or No Deal. Popular shows frequently named "Worst of the Season" include American Dad, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Dawson's Creek, The Drew Carey Show, South Park, Family Guy, Friends, The O.C., Spin City, That '70s Show and Will and Grace. On a weekly basis, the PTC has published weekly reviews of what they consider to be the best and worst television programming for family viewing, authored by the various entertainment analysts at the council.
"So You Think You Can Rate a TV Show?", the title being a play on the title of FOX television series So You Think You Can Dance, is a weekly column the PTC began in July 2007 to claim that networks inaccurately rate their shows based on the TV Parental Guidelines, whether the network applied the improper age-based rating (such as TV-PG or TV-14) or failed to include the proper content descriptors (such as "L" for language or "V" for violence).
Seal of Approval
To recognize excellence in the media, the Parents Television Council awards its Seal of Approval to television shows, movies, home products, and advertisers that provide or sponsor content it deems to be "family-friendly". It is divided into two categories: Entertainment and Advertiser. Popular television shows that have been awarded include 7th Heaven, American Idol, The Bernie Mac Show, Everybody Loves Raymond, George Lopez, JAG, Reba, Smallville, Touched by an Angel, The West Wing, and Wonderful World of Disney. Also receiving the Entertainment Seal of Approval including products like TiVo's KidZone television filtering service, the Sky Angel Christian television service, and CleanFlicks.
Leadership
PTC was founded in 1995 by longtime political activist L. Brent Bozell III. Bozell is a prominent conservative activist who has, among other things, served as Executive Director of the Conservative Victory Committee, a political action committee that has supported the election of dozens of conservative candidates over the past ten years. He was also National Finance Chairman for Pat Buchanan's 1992 presidential campaign, and later president of the National Conservative Political Action Committee. Bozell was succeeded as PTC President by Timothy F. Winter, a self-described liberal and registered Democrat, in January 2007. Winter served as Executive Director of the PTC for three years prior to becoming president. Prior to joining the PTC, Mr. Winter's 20-year career as a media executive included positions with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and NBC. Dan Isett, Director of Corporate and Government Affairs of the PTC, represents the PTC on the Consumer Advisory Committee of the Federal Communications Commission.
The PTC also has an Advisory Board consisting of politicians and entertainers working to assist the council in their goal of protecting children against profanity and violence in the media. Notable members of the advisory board include singer Pat Boone, former football player Mel Renfro, actor Coleman Luck, country musician Billy Ray Cyrus, Republican U.S. Senator of Kansas and former 2008 presidential election candidate Sam Brownback, film critic Michael Medved,, star of the 1980s TV series Dallas Susan Howard, and ION Television producer Gary Johnson. In addition, the PTC has established numerous local chapters for most American media markets. Notable former Advisory Board members include - both of whom are now deceased - comedian Steve Allen, original host of NBC's The Tonight Show, and C. Delores Tucker, participant in the Civil Rights Movement and activist against gangsta rap music; Allen is now given the title of National Honorary Chairman-Emiritus.
Activism
WWE
In 1999, the PTC launched an unsuccessful smear campaign against the professional wrestling organization World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE for short), complaining that their programming contained levels of sexuality and violence unbecoming primetime programming. In the 'campaign', Brent Bozell falsely claimed that he could prove the WWF's Thursday night program, SmackDown!, and by extension the WWF itself, was directly responsible for the deaths of four children. Bozell and various PTC members began meeting with representatives of the advertising departments of various companies that advertised on SmackDown!, intentionally misleading them that they were advertising on a program that had "caused deaths." At one point, the PTC fabricated a story that, due to their campaign, between 30 and 40 of the WWF's advertisers had pulled their commercials from WWF programming.
In response to the PTC's campaign, on November 9, 2000, the WWF filed a successful lawsuit against the organization, claiming that the PTC's statements were false and constituted defamation. In addition, WWF filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the PTC when it was discovered that the group had been using clips from WWF programs in promotional videos being mailed to corporations as a means of promoting the PTC. The PTC did not initially issue a public response, instead filing that the suit be dismissed; the request was denied, partially in response to a judge's finding that the companies the PTC claimed they had influenced to pull advertising from WWF programs had in fact never even advertised with the company. Rather than go to trial, the PTC settled out of court. As part of the settlement agreement, the PTC paid the WWF/E $3.5 million USD and issued a public apology, acknowledging that they had lied about WWF/E being responsible for four children's deaths. In addition, founder Brent Bozell wrote a personal letter of apology to WWF/E owner Vince McMahon
FCC campaigns
In 2003, the PTC unsuccessfully campaigned for the FCC to take action against the NBC television network in response to the use of the epithet "fuck" by Bono, lead singer for the rock band U2, during the network's January 2003 telecast of the Golden Globe Awards. Among an audience of nearly 20 million, the FCC received only 234 complaints, 217 of which came from the PTC. In October 2003, the FCC decided not to fine NBC because Bono's obscenity was ruled as fleeting and not describing sexual or excretory functions, the FCC's standard for fining a network for indecency. After the PTC filed an Application for Review to the FCC, in March 2004 the FCC decided that the epithet was indecent by law but still decided not to fine NBC; however, the ruling was to serve as a warning to networks that there would be a "zero tolerance" policy towards obscene language willfully used during the daytime. However, the PTC's complaints about profanity used by presenter Nichole Richie in December 10, 2003 broadcast of the Billboard Music Awards led the FCC to conclude that the language violated decency law.
PTC began attracting more attention after complaints to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) about the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show 'controversy', in which one of Janet Jackson's breasts, clearly covered by a nipple shield, was displayed for exactly 9/16th's of a second on network television: this incident actually resulted in Congressional hearings, enraging many people who felt it was a waste of taxpayers money, while FCC chairman Michael Powell stated that the number of indecency complaints to the FCC had risen from 350 in the years 2000 and 2001, to 14,000 in 2002 and 240,000 in 2003. It was also found that the PTC had, unsurprisingly, generated most of the indecency complaints received by the Federal Communications Commission.
Originally fined by the FCC, in July 2008, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit voided the fine.
The infamous halftime show paved way for the PTC to launch five more FCC complaint drives, starting March 2004 with an episode of Fox's That '70s Show titled "Happy Jack", which revolved around character Eric Forman being caught masturbating. The beginning of the 2004–2005 television season sparked four new campaigns, the first being against NBC's animated sitcom Father of the Pride for its "barrage of sexual innuendo and profanity" while being promoted "from the makers of Shrek", which would potentially attract children to watching the series. That campaign led to over 11,000 email complaints to the FCC. Later, shortly after CBS broadcast the epithet "fuck" during an airing of Big Brother 5, the PTC took action again, this time citing that CBS ignored a warning from the FCC that there would be zero tolerance toward unbleeped profanity. However, those complaints became moot when Viacom, then-owners of the CBS network, settled with the FCC for $3.5 million regarding all allegedly-indecent programming broadcast in the years around 2003 and 2004, including the Big Brother 5 episode in question. In March 2006, the FCC ruled that Father of the Pride was not indecent. Following were complaints about an October 2004 episode of ABC's short-lived sitcom Life As We Know It, due to its target audience being children and teenagers and the show being allegedly sexually charged.
The PTC started off 2005 with their campaign against Without a Trace, leading to CBS being fined for indecency in March 2006. At the end of January 2005, the FCC rejected a set of complaints that PTC filed between October 2001 and February 2004 for allegedly indecent programs such as NBC's Friends, the WB's Gilmore Girls, and Fox's The Simpsons. FCC received complaints from the PTC in the summer over an unedited broadcast of the lyric "who the fuck are you?" in The Who's song "Who Are You" from the Live 8 concert broadcast July 2, 2005 on ABC stations in the East Coast.
In October 2007, PTC requested that the FCC deny broadcast license renewal for Salt Lake City CBS station KUTV because they felt that the broadcast of Without a Trace violated community standards for decency and that CBS failed to take action to reduce indecent content following the Without a Trace fines. Subsequently, CBS agreed to pay the FCC $300,000 to settle the KUTV license challenge.
Starting from December 2007, the organization demanded that CBS cancel its plan to rebroadcast an edited version of the Showtime cable program Dexter because it felt that the program would glorify murder even with the edits. By early February 2008, the Council claimed to have collected 17,000 complaints to CBS.
On January 25, 2008, the FCC proposed an estimated $1.4 million fine against the ABC network for nudity in an episode of the police drama NYPD Blue aired on February 25, 2003. The episode in question, "Nude Awakening", aired at 9:00 P.M. in the Central and Mountain Time Zones in the United States, thus violating FCC indecency regulation that subjects networks to fines from complaints from indecent programs aired between 6 A.M. and 10 P.M. in the day; however, the episode aired at 10 P.M. in the Pacific and Eastern zones. The PTC praised the FCC's action. However, PTC president Winter condemned ABC's decision to appeal the fine in federal court. PTC has also criticized the Third Circuit Court of Appeals' decision to void the FCC's fine for the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show. TV series that the PTC has targeted for FCC complaints in 2008 have included NBC's Today morning show and CBS primetime programs Big Brother 10, Survivor: Gabon, and Two and a Half Men. Profanity was the main concern for Today and Big Brother 10, the extremely brief exposure of contestant Marcus Lehman's penis for Survivor: Gabon, and a "lap-dance" scene for Two and a Half Men.
Advertising
In May 2005 Carl's Jr. introduced its "Spicy BBQ Six Dollar Burger" in a television advertisement featuring celebrity Paris Hilton in a swimsuit, soaping up a Bentley automobile while leaning on it, and then eating the burger. A similar ad with Hilton for Hardee's hamburger chain was aired in June 2005.
The Parents Television Council and other media watchdog groups criticized the commercial for being shown during programs that were very likely to be watched by children. Melissa Caldwell, PTC research director, said, "This commercial is basically soft-core porn. The way she moves, the way she puts her finger in her mouth—it's very suggestive and very titillating." The group mobilized more than one million members to contact the restaurant chain and voice their concern and claimed that "[i]f this television commercial were to go unchallenged it would set a new standard for acceptable television commercial content. " Caldwell, then-president Brent Bozell, and then-executive director Tim Winter appeared on various news programs such as Good Morning America, Today, The Early Show, American Morning, and The O'Reilly Factor to discuss this issue. On June 13, 2005, television stations in the Western United States stopped showing the advertisement, with television stations in the East showing the advertisement only after 9:00 P.M.
Andy Puzder, CEO of Carl's Jr., says the group needs to "get a life...This isn't Janet Jackson—there is no nipple shield in this," referring to the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show 'controversy'. He continued, "There is no nudity, there is no sex act — it's a beautiful model in a swimsuit washing a car." In addition to featuring the ad on their web site, Carl's Jr. also set up another website playing a longer version of the commercial.
In September 2007, the PTC launched a campaign to get airlines in America to reduce the amount of "PG-13" and "R"-rated films shown as in-flight entertainment. Consequently, Heath Shuler, Democratic representative of North Carolina, introduced the Family Friendly Flights Act of 2007 bill to require airlines to set aside "child-safe" viewing areas for families to sit in planes.
Viewpoints and positions
The PTC believes that the entertainment industry—not only television but also music, movies, and video games as well—and its sponsors share responsibility with parents for children's television viewing habits. It therefore believes that television is harming children through a perceived "gratuitous" amount of sex, violence, and profanity. Its activism has influenced the removal of potentially objectionable content from certain shows, such as the fourth season of the popular CBS network crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
Increased government regulation of broadcasting is another viewpoint supported by PTC, which supports FCC's laws prohibiting broadcast of indecent material between the hours of 6:00 A.M. and 10:00 P.M. on any given day on an American broadcast network and requiring networks to satisfy the public trust by following such laws.
Cable choice
The PTC is an avid supporter of "a la carte" cable television services to allow families to choose only the cable television channels that are appropriate for their children. Frequently, the Council has criticized programs on BET, Comedy Central, E!, FX, MTV, Spike, TNT, and VH1 because they claim some of the content aired on those channels are inappropriate for younger viewers.
On the other side of the issue, the PTC has awarded its "Seal of Approval" to cable networks Disney Channel and Hallmark Channel for their family-friendly original programs. In addition, it has praised the USA Network detective series Monk for its minimal use of profanity and other indecent content.
On June 14, 2007, United States Representatives Dan Lipinski (Democratic, Illinois) and Jeff Fortenberry (Republican, Nebraska) introduced into legislation the Family and Consumer Choice Act of 2007, which intends to allow families to choose and pay for only the cable television channels that they want to watch. The PTC praised their decisions, citing several shows soon to be on the air such as the fourth season Rescue Me beginning on FX, The Sopranos airing on A&E Network, and Comedy Central's "Dirty Dozen" block of its hit animated comedy series South Park, where the network would air the funniest, most socially conscience episodes of the hit series, including "The Death Camp of Tolerance" and "It Hits the Fan". In September 2007, the PTC launched a new website, HowCableShouldBe.com, to allow cable customers to see how much they are paying for their monthly cable bill currently.
Music industry
In April 2008, PTC released The Rap on Rap, a study covering hip-hop and R&B music videos rotated on programs 106 & Park and Rap City, both shown on BET, and Sucker Free on MTV. PTC urged advertisers to withdraw sponsorship of those programs; it believed that such videos targeted children and teenagers "with adult content – sex, violence, profanities or obscenities – once every 38 seconds". PTC also warned radio stations about playing the Britney Spears song "If U Seek Amy" over concerns it contained an audible use of an obscenity.
Criticism
The PTC has been frequently criticized for hypocrisy and slanted reporting. Critics of the PTC have alleged that it supports increased governmental censorship of television by lobbying the FCC for indecency enforcement for certain television shows and inaccurately reporting on the V-Chip in order to further their agenda.
Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, who is frequently criticized by the PTC, said in "The Advocate" about their complaints:
"Oh, yeah. That’s like getting hate mail from Hitler. They’re literally terrible human beings. I’ve read their newsletter, I’ve visited their website, and they’re just rotten to the core. For an organization that prides itself on Christian values—I mean, I’m an atheist, so what do I know?—they spend their entire day hating people. They can all suck my dick as far as I’m concerned."
The backgrounds of certain PTC advisory board members have been questioned as not supporting their stance on morality.
In a December 2005 column of his, Advertising Age columnist Simon Dumenco claimed that the PTC is "very very afraid of gay TV characters". Culture Watch columnist Christopher Gildemeister defended the PTC as being "not homophobic" but simply opposed to "sexual references or innuendo (of any variety, hetero, homo or other) aired where children might be exposed to them."
In his book Foley is Good, Mick Foley compares the PTC and L. Brent Bozzell III to that of McCarthyism and Joe McCarthy during the 1950s.
See also
Citations
Primary sources
Secondary sources
External links
- website
- Newspaper editorials debating the logic of the PTC:
- (Con) by Robyn Blumner
- (Pro) by Ashley Kartchner, director of the PTC branch in southern Utah
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