TV made kid-proof with the new 'V-Chip'

August 17, 1995

From Entertainmen Correspondent Dennis Michael

HOLLYWOOD, California (CNN) -- There's no big "V" on any of the chips being installed on new TV sets being built at the Los Angeles-area factory we visited. The programming block that would be required by the current version of the telecommunications bill is called a "V-chip," but its functions will probably take place in the same circuitry that handles closed captioning.

Programming blocks are nothing new in the television store. Lockout mechanisms are offered on a number of current model televisions. The "Starsight" program information system, for example, simply bypasses channels that might offend, and offers to children a menu of child-appropriate programming. "Instead of locking it out, it puts the control back in the hands of the parents to be able to get the right information to make really intelligent choices for their children," said Caroline Beck of Starsight Communications.

[Bracken] The "DirecTV" satellite broadcast system also has a lockout scheme already in place. Tom Bracken of DirecTV believes that it's an easy tool to use. "Let's say we want nothing higher than 'PG'," he explained. "Simply put a check mark next to PG ... select OK. It tells you you've selected PG ... it then asks if you want to lock your system. You go yes, it takes you to a personal identification number and you punch in a 4-digit code only the parent knows."

These devices work to lock out channels or individual pay- per-view movies that have Motion Picture Association Of America film board ratings -- but not individual TV shows. "All we would need is ratings information and transmit that as part of our signal," said Bracken. "That would give parents the ability to lock out individual programs. Right now that information is not transmitted ... there really are no ratings limits for network programming."

Consumers have been offered home control of programming, but so far, retail industry representatives say the consumer response is cool. Brian Lee of "The Good Guys" store in West Los Angeles told CNN that the feature is "not something that people come in asking for very often, that specific. When we show it to them, they say, 'oh it's a good feature.' But they really didn't come in asking for that feature."

The Electronics Industry Association, which represents consumer electronics manufacturers, opposes the whole notion of a mandatory blocking system. Gary Shapiro explained the Association's position. "The fact is, people aren't buying that, they don't want it. Congress has intruded itself into the marketplace and put a more costly scheme on that would require every TV set to have circuitry that would block out coded programming. The problem is that Congress didn't require broadcasters to code the programming."

If it is required, manufacturers expect it would take three to four years for blocking technology to make it to the marketplace, and ten more years before it's in a majority of American homes.

TV made kid-proof with the new 'V-Chip'

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