By SARA FISHER

Staff Reporter

After more than three years of debate and preparation, the much-ballyhooed v-chip is finally here to shield children from violence and sex on television.

But retailers say L.A. consumers don’t seem to care at least not yet.

As of July 1, federal law requires that half of all televisions sent by manufacturers to retailers must have the device as standard equipment. All television makers have met the deadlines so far, according to the Arlington, Va.-based Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association, and sets equipped with v-chips have been trickling into stores over the past month.

But while manufacturers are ahead of the game, retailers and consumers certainly aren’t. Some retailers reported getting only a few requests for the sets, but others said they haven’t had a single inquiry.

“It doesn’t generate much interest,” said one clerk at the Burbank Circuit City.

“No one has been asking for the v-chip,” added the manager of the television department at the Best Buy in Torrance, who had to check to see if the store even had any v-chip sets.

Of course, the technology is so new that few parents or even store clerks know how it works. Indeed, in a world where many people still have trouble programming VCRs, the v-chip may prove daunting in its intricacies.

“This chip could be good for parents, but the whole system is too confusing,” said Maria Torres, a working mother of two children in elementary school who recently was browsing at a Circuit City in Hollywood. “I’m just looking for the best deal.”

The chip, which is really an integrated circuit in a television set, works in concert with the ratings shown at the beginning of television shows. Using a remote control to program the television, parents punch in a secret code (to outwit enterprising youngsters) that blocks out programs encoded TV-V for violence, TV-D for suggestive dialogue, and so on.

When a program with verboten material begins, the screen goes black. A picture of a lock and the word “blocked” appear instead.

In a study released this May by Menlo Park-based Kaiser Family Foundation, 72 percent of parents queried said the next time they buy a TV they would choose one with the v-chip. But only 39 percent had ever seen or heard anything explaining the TV ratings system.

The study concluded that most parents do not have enough information about how the ratings work to be able to use the v-chip effectively.

Neither the electronics trade group nor retailers expect to see television sales affected by the v-chip. And because all sets with screens larger than 13 inches will be required to have the v-chip as standard equipment by Jan. 1, 2000, the gadget is not expected to give one manufacturer an advantage over another.

“The v-chip is a nice feature to have for parents, but we don’t expect to see any significant change in sales patterns because of it,” said James Booker, senior sales manager at Good Guys in West Los Angeles.

To help boost awareness of the new technology, the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association is currently developing a logo and a sticker to put on televisions with v-chips. In addition, the National Association of Broadcasters may create a series of public service announcements.

Broadcasters have voluntarily been rating their programs for violence and mature content since January 1998.

Dennis Wharton, NAB senior vice president, said virtually all new programming and prime-time broadcasts adhere to the rating system. News and sports are exempt, but the v-chip also allows parents to block shows that are not rated.

“We (broadcasters) entered into this knowing that creating and using the rating system would be a huge financial expense for us, so we’re glad that the other half of the system is finally being put in place,” Wharton said.

The attitude of broadcasters has changed substantially since the screening device was mandated as part of the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Then, television producers and broadcasters were adamantly opposed to the v-chip. Their main complaint was that rating tens of thousands of programs annually was economically and logistically unfeasible.

At one point, the industry contemplated legal action to overturn the provision, but never pursued that option.