EDUCATORS, INDUSTRY DEBATE AGE-BASED TELEVISION RATINGS.

Byline: Keith Marder Daily News Television Writer

Although it wasn't the impetus of a Wednesday gathering of advocacy groups and entertainment industry representatives, one subject kept coming up - the controversial television content guidelines.

It was the second off-the-record summit convened by the UCLA Center for Communication Policy and the American Cinema Foundation in the past 1-1/2 years, an ongoing effort to invite a free exchange of ideas - out of the glare of media - among groups with opposite interests.

Wednesday's daylong conference, held at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, sparked continued debate over the age-based television ratings, which all broadcast networks and many cable stations developed and already are using.

While the industry representatives defended the new system as being a success in its trial run, many advocacy groups said they consider the ratings inadequate and favor a more-detailed, content-based system, according to some attendees who continued the debate in the hotel foyer in between the by-invitation-only sessions.

``Number one, they're invisible,'' said George Gerbner, a dean emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School of Communication. ``All it added up to was protecting the industry from parents. . . . No. 2, they only go on the screen for 15 seconds and, No. 3, television is not watched like a movie. Television is watched by the clock. They do not apply to television.''

The v-chip, which is also part of the Telecommunication's Act that eventually will bring an official ratings system, also was scrutinized as a form of censorship.

``I'm against it,'' said Lionel Chetwynd, a prolific writer/producer/director. ``It's an open-ended technology and we don't know where it leads. What if they had ratings during the McCarthy Era? If they can use it to block out sexual material, they can use it to block out political material as well.''

Peter Lund, president and CEO of Westinghouse/CBS Inc., said his network receives about 300,000 letters and 500,000 phone calls from concerned viewers. The topic changes with the issues of the day, he said.

``I think it's cyclical,'' Lund said. ``It depends on what's going on at any given time. The issue of the last six months or even last year has been labeling. As a network we have been foursquare against the v-chip to start with and foursquare behind labeling. All the networks said, `Look, let's do this now.' At the end of the day we can say to ourselves that we've given parents more information. What can be bad about that?''

The next big step for the ratings will be next week in Washington, when the Senate Commerce Committee will hold a public hearing on the topic.