TiVo Inc. is giving parents an expanded set of tools to control what their kids watch on TV with rollout of its new KidZone service.
Timed to coincide with summer vacation when kids are out of school and spending more time in front of the tube, the free KidZone service allows subscribers to choose from menus of shows recommended by nonprofit children’s foundations, including Common Sense Media, Parents’ Choice Foundation and the Parents Television Council.
KidZone also allows parents to add or subtract specific programs or channels from the acceptable viewing list, and it locks out programming from recording. A four-digit override code allows parents to record adult-oriented programming, if they wish.
A TiVo-sponsored survey of 1,000 Americans conducted earlier this month by Ipsos Research indicated that 64% of parents are concerned that their children will see programs that don’t reflect their values, but 81% said they don’t use any parental control technology to shield their children from such content.
“It is clear that parents need an easy to use service like TiVo KidZone to ensure that quality TV is always on at their house,” said Joe Miller, TiVo’s vice president of sales and affiliate marketing.
Subscribers can learn more about these features and sign up for the priority list at www.tivo.com/priority to ensure the features are delivered to their boxes before the full rollout of the service. For more information, please visit www.tivo.com/kidzone.
