The Canadian cable industry and Canadian English-language broadcasters have joined together to offer another way parents can make informed viewing choices for their families:  a six-level on-screen rating system that uses clear and consistent guidelines to evaluate the content of television programs.

The content is assigned a rating according to the generally accepted stages of child development, much like the approach used in classifying movies, books, games, toys and other children's products.

English-language broadcasters and specialty cable channels display these on-screen rating symbols with their programming.  The rating symbols will appear for a minimum of 15 seconds in the top left-hand corner of the screen at the beginning of a program, and every hour thereafter.

Certain programming, such as news, sports, documentaries, talk shows, music videos and variety programming, is exempted from the ratings system.

	Children Programming intended for children under eight.
	Children 8 and older Programming generally considered acceptable for children 8 years and over to watch on their own.
	General Audience Programming considered acceptable for all age groups.  While not designed specifically for children, it is understood younger viewers may be part of this audience.
	Parental Guidance Programming intended for a general audience, but which may not be suitable for younger children.  Parents may consider some content inappropriate for unsupervised viewing by children aged 8-13.
	Viewers 14 and over Programming contains themes or content which may not be suitable for viewers under the age of 14.  Parents are strongly cautioned to exercise discretion in permitting viewing by early teens.
	Adults Programming intended for adults 18 and older.  It may contain elements of violence, language and sexual content which could make it unsuitable for viewers under 18.