This board was established to assure the rating guidelines are applied accurately and consistently. The voluntary actions taken by the industry directly addressed issues and concerns expressed by the Commission. That gives the industry a positive image concerning the subject of parental rating systems for television. After the industry submitted their voluntary rating system, the Commission asked for comments from parent groups, public health organizations, members of Congress, public interest groups, and others interested in this issue. The most prevalent complaint from these groups was the lack of specificity provided by the rating system concerning sexual, violent or indecent material.
Parents are more likely to be receptive to an easy to use system.
The more detailed the rating labels become, the more confusing the system will become. Another issue addressed was the fact that the parental guidelines did not provide ratings for news, sports and commercials. However, this should not be a problem since most advertisements target a specific audience. Viewers can rely on the program block to also block the commercials included in that program. Also, rating news could cause problems, because the 1996 act does not allow any political or religious programs to be rated.