TV-14 (Parents Strongly Cautioned)

How to read it

The TV Parental Guidelines say parents are strongly urged to take greater care in monitoring a TV-14 program and are cautioned against letting children under 14 watch it unattended. It may have intensely suggestive dialogue (D), strong coarse language (L), intense sexual situations (S) or intense violence (V), and the letters after the rating say which. Like every TV rating, it is assigned by the network or the program’s producer, and local stations may substitute their own rating.

Also searched as: tv 14, tv-14 rating.

TV-14 and PG-13

The film rating closest to TV-14 is the MPA’s PG-13, “Parents Strongly Cautioned”, the same words, for material that may be inappropriate for children under 13. The film rating sets its line at 13 and the TV rating at 14. Neither stops anyone watching: TV ratings work through the V-chip and other parental controls, and the MPA counts only R and NC-17 as restrictive.

Blocking by rating and letter

The V-chip in a TV can block a whole rating or one rating with one letter. The Monitoring Board’s example is TV-14-V, for TV-14 programs with intense violence. Under the FCC’s rules, blocking an age rating also blocks the ratings above it, so a block on TV-14 also covers TV-MA.