Introduction: This article examines the way Spanish television channels rate and label their programmes, and whether they comply with the requirements established by the Self-regulation Code on Television Contents and Childhood. It also analyses the opinion of a panel of experts on the problems faced by television operators to interpret the rating and labelling criteria established by the aforementioned Code. Method: The study is based on the case study method, which is complemented with a Delphi survey and interviews with a group of experts. Results: Although all Spanish television channels provide rating information on the TV screen, some of them do not offer this information in their EPG, websites, and broadcast teletext. There are also difficulties to interpret the rating and labelling criteria recommended by the code. Discussion and Conclusions: It is urgent to reflect on the guiding criteria of the Code in order to improve the rating information provided to users and the control over online audiovisual contents.
Keywords Watershed; Self-regulation Code; TV content rating and labelling; childhood; audiovisual content rating; television.
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