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TiVo Plans Mid-Year Launch of Parental Controls

Mar 2, 2006  •  Post A Comment

Digital video recorder maker TiVo said Thursday that it plans to introduce a parental-control package.

KidZone, as the new product is called, will allow parents to control what their children watch through menus that are stocked with programming deemed appropriate for young viewers by TiVo and advocacy groups. TiVo is working with Common Sense Media and the Parents Television Council to develop menus of programs those advocacy groups support.

The content aimed at children will be password-protected, allowing parents to further refine the content that their children can watch, and parents can add programs not on the menus. The TiVo boxes can still be programmed to record television shows aimed at more mature audiences.

TiVo said it would begin offering KidZone at mid-year at no additional cost to TiVo subscribers.

Regulators are increasingly scrutinizing the kinds of programming younger audiences are able to access. That increased focus has led to several cable companies to offer family-friendly programming tiers to subscribers.