NEW TV RATINGS SYSTEM PLEASES MPAA'S VALENTI.

Byline: Keith Marder Daily News Television Writer

The new TV-rating system has taken its lumps from parent groups and other critics since it was introduced last month, but Jack Valenti says he is ``pleased as punch'' with it.

Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, headed the Television Ratings Implementation Group, which devised the new system.

``I'm satisfied that we've done the very best we can to design a system that is sensible, reasonable and simple to use. That was our objective.''

The system rates shows in six categories based on what is deemed appropriate for children, according to their age. The categories are: TV-Y (material suitable for children of all ages), TV-Y7 (material suitable for children 7 and older), TV-G (material suitable for all audiences), TV-PG (parental guidance is suggested), TV-14 (material may be inappropriate for children under 14) and TV-M (program is designed to be viewed by adults and therefore may be unsuitable for children under 17).

Last week, the major broadcast networks - ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox - began flashing the labels at the beginning of all shows except sports and news.

Valenti says that the new system, born out of hundreds of meetings over 11 months, is not only the best alternative but the only alternative. Ask him about it, and he'll spit out a math or science analogy that will make your head spin.

``We didn't want something like Bernoulli's principle (a law of physics) with five or six permutations,'' Valenti said during a telephone interview from his office in Washington, D.C.

But critics, including children's advocacy groups and concerned parents, have argued that content-based ratings similar to those used by premium cable channels such as HBO and Showtime, which indicate if a show contains sex, violence or language and to what degree, would be more useful.

The 75-year-old Valenti, who devised the ratings system for the motion picture industry about a quarter-century ago, dismisses the critics.

Sure, in theory or on paper, the content-based ratings may seem useful, Valenti said, but that system is about as practical as having the kids rate the shows themselves.

And, he says he's sure that what the content-ratings people are calling for will only confuse matters.

Valenti said that certain episodes of the wholesome ``Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman,'' would get a ``S'' for sex, as would the movie ``Basic Instinct,'' and ``those are two shows that are 10 furlongs apart as far as content.''

He also said that ``The Three Stooges,'' and ``Natural Born Killers,'' would both earn a ``V'' for violence in a content system.

To break it up in grades of sex, violence or language would become too cumbersome, Valenti believes.

``In the real world, how would you do it without confusing parents?'' Valenti said, ``with S-4, V-6, L-7.''

Some critics, though, have advocated some combination of the two systems, but Valenti remains confident that his new system will prevail in the long run.

``The whole idea was to design something parents would use,'' Valenti said. ``Calling something TV-G or TV-M is something parents will understand, and that there is a great deal of difference between `Dr. Quinn' and `Basic Instinct.' If it's too much to read, parents aren't going to read that much (data on a screen). In time, this will become familiar and companionable.''

Valenti said that when his movie ratings debuted, 50 percent of parents found them useful or very useful. Now that figure is 80 percent for parents with children under 13.

``In two or three years, this will become companionable,'' Valenti said. ``The same thing will happen here. We've done our homework.''

Valenti said that over the next year he will talk with ``real parents with real kids in real neighborhoods, watching real television in real time. They will be the ones telling us if we're on the right track or not, and we are on the right track.''

The only real content ratings, Valenti says, are ones that will tell you ``there is a scene where this guy hits another guy with a baseball bat and another where a guy puts someone's head in a vise and another where people are just kissing and hugging and it's not bad at all. You can't do that with a symbol, and that's why we give an age category along with content.''

This all brings Valenti back to one of his nifty science references.

``We're not dealing with Boyle's law of gases here or any immutable science,'' Valenti said. ``This is very subjective. Tell me, what is great art?''

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Photo: `The whole idea was to design something parents would use. Calling something TV-G or TV-M is something parents will understand ... If it's too much to read, parents aren't going to read that much (data on a screen).'

Jack Valenti

on the new TV ratings system