TV Parental Guidelines

The TV parental guidelines are a television content rating system in the United States. They were proposed on December 19, 1996 by the United States Congress, the television industry and Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The ratings went in effect on January 1, 1997 on most broadcast and cable television networks. This was due to public concern of explicit sex, graphic violence and profanity in television programs. The ratings are a voluntary system.
The ratings are usually applied to most television series, TV movies and edited basic cable versions of theatrical movies. Pay television, like HBO, Showtime and Cinemax also assign the TV parental guideline ratings on movies. Most of these movies are not rated by Motion Picture Association of America or unrated versions of certain movies that may be rated.
The ratings are designed to be used with the V-chip. The V-chip is in televisions which are made in and after 2000. The guidelines carry no legal forces. They're not used on news or sports shows.