• by Wayne Friedman , November 29, 2005

Looking to counter increasing pressure from outside groups to have federal regulators fine and/or curtail racy TV content, new research shows that parental involvement is the best way to keep kids from watching programming they shouldn't.

Russell Research says that while 81 percent of Americans worry about what kinds of programming their children watch, a greater number--91 percent--say the best way to handle this is for parents to be involved. Only 9 percent of parents say the government should increase control and enforcement of network television programming.

This is an attempt to counter proposals by TV pressure groups such as the Parents Television Council and others who want fines levied against big media and/or the government to be more involved in stopping specific rough TV content.

The research was done for TV Watch, a broad-based coalition that opposes government control of TV programming and promotes the use of tools like content ratings and parental controls. Its members include the American Conservative Union, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, The Creative Coalition, Viacom, News Corp., and NBC-Universal.

The survey also revealed that 85 percent of parents found TV ratings useful; 66 percent found cable blocking technology helpful; and 56 percent said the V-chip technology was good in preventing kids from seeing specific programs.

Congress has considered legislation that would increase fines for indecent broadcasts to $500,000 per incident from the current $32,500 for a TV licensee, and from $11,000 to $500,000 for an individual entertainer. The report comes on the eve of a Senate hearing that will focus on racy television programming.