QUITO, Ecuador- Hit US cartoon series "The Simpsons" will no longer be shown during prime-time in Ecuador while the government ponders its impact on children, a broadcaster said on Thursday.

Teleamazonas said it would no longer be allowed to broadcast the often satirical exploits of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, between 6:00 am and 9:00 pm, pending a government investigation.

A government-backed regulator will assess the program's impact on "boys, girls and teenagers," and wants to restrict its broadcast "to assure the protection" of younger audiences.

"It is not going to go off the air, but we had to change its slot to 5:30 am," Pablo Ortiz, Teleamazonas' lawyer told AFP.

The state TV watchdog said it was concerned by the impact of "programs and messages that promote violence, racial and gender discrimination."

The body recently pushed Japanese cartoon "Dragon Ball Z" from its normal slot.

The investigation is expected to last 90 days.

In June 2008, Venezuelan private television channel Televen was sanctioned for showing The Simpsons during family viewing times.

Like Venezuela, Ecuador's TV and radio schedules are cleared for weekly, and often lengthy, discourses by the country's leftist president. -AFP