Are age ratings unnecessary in the streaming era?

[TheMaster666]

I'm not talking about having a ratings for a show. Obviously, it is important to know whether something is G, PG, PG-13, or R, for parents' sake.

What I mean, specifically, is it necessary to interrupt the programming with obnoxious banners letting you know, "TV-14, Mild Violence" or the such on every single thing?

This was a common practice in the days of traditional broadcast and cable TV, (although they were much more subtle with these back then, as a small black box in the corner of the screen), and it made sense for broadcast TV. After all, the programs are automatically presented linearly by the broadcaster. The viewer likely will not know what is playing or what its age rating is beforehand, so this info is useful. Especially so, since not everyone would've bought a TV Guide, and channel surfers wouldn't look it up even if they could, for every channel they surf through.

By contrast, it makes no sense to include such warnings on streaming, because streaming, by definition, requires the viewer to first select what it is he or she is streaming. And the age ratings, along with other information such as synopsis, cast and director names, perhaps user reviews/ratings, will be present on the movie/tv show's page, which you cannot start playing before first visiting.

Therefore, what lands up happening is the ratings inside a streaming video are not only completely redundant, but actually become quite distracting and insulting to a viewer's intelligence.

It's like if you went into a theater, and as the movie begins, an obnoxious overlay appears, hiding part of the film, in bold and large text, letting you know this is rated R. It just doesn't make any sense. Obviously you must have known that before paying for the ticket! Or with DVDs. Obviously you knew the rating because it's there on the cover.

I think there should be an option in settings to hide age ratings information from appearing as an overlay on top of the video. It's gaudy and distracting and just doesn't make sense in the streaming age as it did in the days of broadcast tv.

 

[nightshade]

Can't say I've noticed anything, so if it does show I'm clearly not distracted by it!

 

[NotASlayer]

I think here at most you might get a small banner in the top left of the screen that appears for a few seconds at the start before fading away (and I checked and that's exactly what Netflix does for instance). Exactly how a streaming service displays age ratings will depend on the territory they are in. I can see why they would put it in the programme itself because people simply do not pay attention. Yes, it might be given in the description but I expect a lot of people simply do not pay any attention to that. Plus, on Netflix again, you can click the programme icon and be taken straight into it without knowing any more about it than the name and a pretty picture designed to make you click.

 

[Stake fodder]

That's a good point. It's another reason why I wish there was some unified Twitter/X/whatever site where we could post suggestions to movie and TV producers. In my case, I would like to suggest a couple books that would make great TV series.

 

[CardboardGhost]

I haven't ever found these banners distracting, and I would disagree that they are redundant; while the synopsis and genre conventions can give you a good idea of what to expect (i.e. I am going to assume that a PG-13 action movie probably has some blood in it), the banners are usually less about the story and more about why that rating was given, which are slightly different things. One movie can be rated R for profanity alone and another could be rated R for full nudity, and obviously the synopsis doesn't give that info, so it goes in the ratings banner.

In the age of the internet, you can easily find not only the reasoning behind a given rating but even detailed descriptions of the relevant scenes if you so desire, but no one is making that google search for every single thing they watch. It makes sense to me for the ratings to be displayed on the screen itself as a holdover from network television, because they're still serving their original function. A lot of streaming services also include flashing light warnings in the same location, which is a really important addition.

 

[November]

I dont think we have those constant warnings in australia. There used to be a little tiny G/PG/M on the bottom that faded after an advert, just so you knew if you had changed the channel during the ads that it wasnt suited to kids. That was handy.
I do notice the age banners on american streamed tv from time to time but they also have banner adverts which are far more distracting.
If the shows are dropping down to free to air eventually, it does make sense for the rating to stay put, but I dont know how much longer free to air will be around for.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

Anyone who thinks ratings are enforceable in 2026 has been off the planet for a couple of decades. There is usually a page at the beginning of the show stating what the rating is and giving the litany of why (violence, nudity etc.) but there are several programs that have a blanket warning for violence and nudity even when there isn't any. This page disappears when the show begins, so it is not as obtrusive as it might be. But I haven't seen a block with the rating in it that stays on for the entire show.

 

[TamsinValencia]

Usually on Disney plus you just have a little box that says '13+' or something in the top right hand corner.
Some horror movies have a little black screen with a disclaimer and it says why it may be inappropriate but thats only at the start and for a few seconds.

 

[NotASlayer]

Anyone who thinks ratings are enforceable in 2026 has been off the planet for a couple of decades.

I doubt anyone really expects them to be enforceable; more that if someone watches something inappropriate they can point and go "Look! We told you! And you have the tools to do something about it" just to avoid liability (and the tools are rarely effective anyway).