er every show with a fine toothed comb before it goes on the air. He says, therefore, that it "would defy explanation that they would be unable to give it some rating with regard to whether or not it's appropriate for a six-, seven-, or eight-year-old boy or girl."11 By delegating the task of rating shows to the networks, or even to the shows' producers, it eliminates the need for a single body to look at the whole mass of programs. Supporters of the V-chip say that its purpose is to give parents control over the level of violence and sexual material their children watch on television. Critics, however, claim that the ratings will be too broad. They would not be able to intelligently choose for themselves which shows are acceptable and which are not. Critics argue that many shows such as cartoons and even the news could potentially be classified as "violent" and be blocked. In response to this argument, news and sports programs will be exempt from the ratings requirements.8 This creates it's own problems, though. It will be difficult for officials to decide what qualifies as "news" or "sports." Tabloid shows such as "Hard Copy", for example, could be labeled as either news or entertainment. Many shows will try to avoid ratings by claiming exemption as either a news or sports show. Another one of the biggest concerns of V-chip opponents is that it would cause broadcasters to lose money since many advertisers would not pay for time in a show that might be blocked from millions of households. This would eventually cause the networks to drop highly rated shows in favor of "blander" fare which will attract more advertiser revenue.15 Supporters agree that advertisers will avoid highly rated shows, and that networks will eventually drop them in favor of lower rated, more profitable shows. Many supporters, including Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.), claim that as a sort of victory, rather than a drawback. Dole has castigated the enterta...
