The Code of Practices for Television Broadcasters, also known as the
Television Code, was a set of ethical standards adopted by the National
Association of Broadcasters (NAB) for television programming from
1952 to 1983. The code was created to self-regulate the industry in
hopes of avoiding a proposed government Advisory Board and
satisfying parental concerns over violence and other matters. Prior
to the Television Code, the 1935 NAB Code of Ethics for radio was
applied to television but fewer than half of TV stations subscribed to
it; when the Television Code was first issued, two-thirds of stations
became subscribers.