PG-13 Ratings were added to shows

General Discussion
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Today I noticed that Viki added ratings to shows on the front page. Rated PG-13. That means: Parents strongly cautioned – Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

  1. Many Viki members like to watch shows with their family. I think this is a good idea for parents to know there will be adult topics, stronger language or some violence. I’m wondering if it might discourage families though from watching such shows.
  2. Coffee and Vanilla and Before We Get Married are also rated PG-13 but I think they need to be rated NC-17 like Watcha Wearin’? NC-17 originally meant No Children Under 17 Admitted.

On Wikipedia: “Titles with surrendered ratings are usually released unrated to avoid the stigma of NC-17. Changes in ratings are due to re-submission or appeal by a film’s producers. Films receiving an NC-17 are often cut and resubmitted in hopes of earning an R rating, which allows distribution to more outlets than an NC-17 rating.”

Rated R: Restricted – Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
Rated NC-17 : No children under 17 admitted.

I checked and even the shows in my School fan collection are rated PG-13. Variety shows and Anime are rated PG-13. I couldn’t find anything rated G for General.

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I guess the PG 13 was used as it’s the minimum age to officially use Viki stated in the Terms of use.

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I might post the equivalent UK age ratings later, but I need to doublecheck some things first.

I think over time viki might have to bring in parental controls , otherwise they might eventually run into problems with respect to conducting business in some areas of Europe.

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Yes, exactly. If you sign up on Viki you claim you are 13 years old and up or have permission from a legal guardian to sign up for an account. It’s actually that way for every forum or streaming service online. Unless it’s aimed for younger children but then it states children should always get permission from a legal guardian. Or when a company decides it’s for 18+ only then the minimum age is 18.

It’s the responsibility of the parent to know what their child does online. Also when people want to watch a Kdrama on Viki with the whole family, the parents need to make sure it’s suitable for their child. That’s not Viki’s job.

And I believe it’s against Viki’s guidelines to share an account with multiple people but that’s an other issue. And the age rating has been there for as long as I remember.

Ohh and the age ratings are not universal.

In The Netherlands we have:
AL: All ages
6: For 6 and up
9: For 9 and up
12: For 12 and up
16: For 16 and up
18: adult, usually this is only used for one kind, all else is usually rated as one of the above.

Next to that we have these symbols:
download
Fist: Violence
Spider: Fear, anxiety, scary stuff
2 feet: Sex
Yelling person: Strong language
Needle: Alcohol and drugs abuse
Person in front of a crowd: Discrimination/Racism.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone has a 9 and a spider. To tell parents they should watch with their child if they are not 9 and up yet and to let them know they should expect some scary things are happening.

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In the case of the UK. Age ratings for cinema and home video are handled by the British board of film classification (BBFC). https://www.bbfc.co.uk/

Over the last few years the definition of home video release has changed to include what is on streaming services.

it has been mentioned that age ratings are not universal. This is true, but UK and US age ratings are fairly comparable in most cases.

The UK age ratings that would be applicable in the case of viki would be

  • 12
  • 15
  • 18

The closest UK equivalent to PG-13 would be 12/12A. I should point out that 12A relates only to cinemas and not home video release. Anyone under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Most cinemas have a rule where if the child appears to be under eight. They won’t let them see the film even if they are accompanied by an adult and anyone 12 or over does not have to be accompanied by an adult. Link below contains more information about the kind of material classification can contain.
https://www.bbfc.co.uk/about-classification/12a-and-12

The closest UK equivalent to the restricted rating in the United States would be 15. In the UK cinema must not permit anyone under the age of 15 to see a film which is rated 15. Persons under the age of 15 are also not permitted to rent or buy films that are rated 15. The link below contains more information about the kind of content but cinema or home video release that is rated 15 can contain.
https://www.bbfc.co.uk/about-classification/15

The closest UK equivalent to the United States rating of mature or 17 would be 18 as with the age rating of 15 the same restrictions apply to the 18 age rating. The kind of stuff you will find in content that is rated 18 is of course more mature
https://www.bbfc.co.uk/about-classification/18

As content that is on streaming services is now considered to be home video release UK regulators are one by one, nudging streaming services to introduce parental controls largely for the purpose of giving parents the necessary tools to more easily protect young children from stumbling across things they shouldn’t. Parental controls are encouraged, but not legally required. As of yet, unless the streaming service in question provides access to linear TV channels over IP, in which case new rules came into force a few months ago which mean that access to certain linear channels, mainly movie channels must be restricted by a mandatory parental pin. And no one under the age of 18 can legally subscribe to a subscription service.

There is one age rating, which is higher than 18 and that is 18R I’m pretty sure everyone can guess what, that’s for.

Recently, UK regulators have managed to get Netflix to submit and Netflix now has rather sophisticated parental controls and adopts the UK age ratings for content where said content has been given an age rating by the BBFC.

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Same thing here: If a movie is 16+ and you come there with your 12 year old to go see it, they won’t let you in. Children should be able to provide proof of their age by an ID card or passport. Some staff will close their ages and let you pass with your child but it should not happen. But at home it’s up to the parents. If you find it ok that your 8 year old sees a movie for 12+ that’s fine, your responsibility as a parent.

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It’s now posted on the front page of Viki. On Movies category, it specifically says PG-13 in a box or NC-17. Was that always on the front page?

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When I initially wrote about these things, it got so controversial that VIKI had to close down the post. A year later and now they’re circling back to what should have been implemented from Day 1. That’s OK. As one great man once said: "The time is always right to do the right thing.”

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no, this wasn’t always the case. Age ratings for the movies segment of the front page have only been there for the past three or four days.

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Screenshot%20(337)

I made this screenshot in September 2017, so it seems to be this way a little longer, but it wasn’t always on the channel’s main page.

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When I say front-page I mean the website’s homepage. The miscommunication is probably my fault due to my strange phrasing :neutral_face:
viki%20homepage%20age%20rating

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I went to Viki’s main page and didn’t see any age rating, but I didn’t scroll down all the way to the movies. So - no, there was no information like that. Regarding this I guess it probably came with the last change on that page some weeks ago, but that is just my assumption.

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I don’t see the age rating on the front page either but when I said Viki had it listed ever since I can remember, then I mean what @lutra shows in her screencap. That rating has been there for ages.

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In Germany you start with:

0 (Zero) - no restriction
6 - 6 years plus
12 - 12 years plus; 6 years under parental guidance
16 - 16 years plus
18 - 18 years plus

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You need to look for the movies, scroll, scroll, scroll …

Screenshot%20(599)

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I checked my Viki app front page last night, and either there’s no room on the app or they just didn’t include any. It’s just on the computer website. In fact, I checked shows on my Viki app and they have no classified ratings like PG-13 or NC-17 anywhere. But it’s the app which families use to cast on their televisions for everyone to watch together.

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If it’s bothering you so much write the help center and make the suggestion: https://support.viki.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

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Some of the ratings on viki seem a little incorrect… for example, I was watching Flower of Evil again, and noticed that the rating had changed to R. I double checked mydramalist, and the content rating is actually just 15+, which is more like pg13 than R…… I also just checked You Make Me Dance, and that rating was finally changed. When it was coming out, it had an R rating, which completely didn’t make sense at all.

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Most BLs seem to be started with an R rating, There are a couple of BLs that in my review I start off saying, ‘this is not an R rated drama,’ which might be confusing since they were eventually downgraded to PG-13. I noticed the latest one, Be Loved In House: I Do though is starting with PG-13 and not R

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The first time I watched Flower of Evil, it had no rating. The second time, it was rated R. The third time (last week) it’s 16+ :grimacing:
It’s now a 16+ rated drama.
Love Me If You Dare was rated 13+ even though it had as much violence(if not more) as Flower of Evil.

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