Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Fernsehen

The Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Fernsehen (FSF) is the regulatory broadcasting authority in Germany. It was established in 1993.

The FSF assigns a rating to content that will be broadcast on television. This is to prevent young audiences from being exposed to inappropriate content.

Rating system[]

Criteria[]

Angst (fear/horror)
Gewalt (violence)
Desorientierung (social disorientation / discrimination)
Sex (sex)
Sprache (language)

Ratings[]

Ab 0 Jahren
Suitable for all ages. They may be broadcast at any time. White icon. Equivalent to TV-Y or TV-G.
Ab 6 Jahren
There may be mild, non-realistic violence, mild sense of threat and mild language. They may be broadcast at any time. Yellow icon. Equivalent to TV-Y7 or soft TV-PG.
Ab 12 Jahren
There may be frightening pictures, violence (with stronger moments if justified by the context), fantasy violence and mild realistic violence. There may also be shocking scenes, sexual images or innuendo or coarse/discriminatory language. They may be broadcast at any time if it does not impair the wellbeing of children (green icon with an outer yellow outline); otherwise they may be broadcast only from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. the following day. Green icon. Equivalent to hard TV-PG or soft TV-14.
Ab 16 Jahren
Programmes that require a mature perspective due to violence, sexuality or themes. A full-screen notice must be shown before the start of a 16-rated programme. They may be broadcast only from 10:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. the following day. Blue icon. Equivalent to hard TV-14 or TV-MA.
Ab 18 Jahren
Content is suitable only for adults. While unlikely to pose serious harm to minors, most parents would find it too off-limits to their children. A full-screen notice must be shown before the start of an 18-rated programme. They may be broadcast only from 11:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. the following day. Red icon. Equivalent to Absolutely Not For Children.
Keine Ausstrahlung (not to be broadcast)
Content that is morally offensive even by adult audiences, and such content should not be broadcast anywhere within Germany. Content is determined to be illegal under § 4 JMStV and §§ 29, 30 PrO-FSF. Keine Ausstrahlung icon is coloured red with the letter X. Anything that can cause serious harm to young persons may not be broadcast by any television network in Germany.

Policy[]

In Germany, every broadcaster has to show a disclaimer displaying the sentence Die nachfolgende Sendung ist für Zuschauer unter 16/18 Jahren nicht geeignet before transmission if the programme contains potentially offensive content. This roughly translates to The following programme is not suitable for viewers under 16/18. The Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Fernsehen (FSF) checks many shows in private television. Anything else does not get such a disclaimer.

List[]

0 rating list
- Approx. 7,020 titles as of September 1, 2022

6 rating list
- Approx. 9,790 titles as of September 1, 2022

12 rating list
- Approx. 37,740 titles as of September 1, 2022

16 rating list
- Approx. 18,160 titles as of September 1, 2022

18 rating list
- Approx. 5,600 titles as of September 1, 2022

Note[]

There is some showing on movie & video game titles on IMDb, which is exactly the same rating.