• Broadcasting & Cable, Monday, April 20, 2009 9:31 AM

The Children's Media Policy Council, whose members include the PTA and the American Academy of Pediatrics, wants the FCC to add ratings for TV commercials and embedded advertising in TV shows to the V-chip/ratings system.

The council wants to give patents the option of blocking ads as well as TV programming. It argues that parents' concern about violence, sex and coarse language includes not only shows, but the content in ads for alcohol or Viagra. They call the fact that the V-chip cannot block ads a "serious flaw" that needs to be addressed.

On the other side of the argument, the Association of National Advertisers asks the commission to "disavow" any effort to add commercials to the content ratings menu. It maintains that the FCC does not have a mandate to regulate the way ad content is handled. The ANA also argues that rating ads could be "ruinous" to the industry.

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