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March 11, 1996

OTTAWA, March 11, 1996 -- Canada must move quickly to ensure that television classification systems in North America are all compatible, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) said today.

"With the thousands of hours of programming that cross our borders every week, it's inconceivable that the U.S. and Canada would have completely different systems," stressed CAB President Michael McCabe. "While we need a system that meets Canadians' needs, it must be compatible with other systems."

Canadian broadcasters welcomed a recent announcement that the U.S. television industry is moving to develop a simple system based on the movie rating system.

CAB urged the CRTC, in its upcoming decision on violence, to support a classification system that applies equally to Canadian and foreign signals. "Anything less than a parent-friendly approach that applies to all signals and is compatible throughout North America would be hopelessly confusing for parents, regulators and broadcasters," stressed McCabe.

"We1re already working with our American counterparts at the National Association of Broadcasters, in Washington, on ways to mesh our systems to the benefit of parents on both sides of the border," said McCabe. "Obviously, our shared goal is to come up with a simple and effective system the public will accept."

Private broadcasters have had a tough and effective voluntary Violence Code for years. It bans gratuitous and glamorized violence, has a 9 p.m. 'watershed' hour for programs with violence, requires program advisories, and sets stiff rules on violence in kids shows. The Code is administered by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, another broadcaster initiative.

The CAB has long lobbied for a system that protects children from all sources of violent programming. McCabe said the difficulty with classifying unrated foreign signals has stymied development of an effective Canadian system.

"As things stand, shows too violent for our code can turn up on competing foreign channels. The good news now is that American programs will soon be classified."

The CAB represents the vast majority of Canada's local serving, advertising supported radio and television broadcasters.

For Information contact:

Susan Tolusso
Director, Communications
(613) 233-4035 ext. 331
(stolusso@cab-acr.ca)