Vudu adds parental control to skip adult scenes
To start, more than 500 major titles will be eligible for the "Family Play" feature.
Vudu, the streaming video platform owned by Walmart, announced today a new batch of parental controls that will give guardians the ability to automatically skip or mute scenes that contain objectionable content. The new Family Play tool will allow parents to set up rules that bypass on-screen examples of substance abuse, language, violence, sex and nudity. The feature will be available on more than 500 major studio titles to begin with, and Vudu is planning to expand the offering to more movies and TV shows each week.
In addition to the Family Play feature, Vudu is also introducing new ratings and reviews specifically with parents in mind. The company is partnering with Common Sense Media to include commentary on movies and series that will help parents determine if it is appropriate to show to younger viewers. Vudu is also adding a Kids Mode that will provide a more limited selection of shows and films specifically geared toward kids, essentially walling off content that is considered to be more adult oriented. The feature will be available on both Vudu's free library as well as on rented and purchased titles.
Vudu's move to position itself as a particularly family-friendly streaming service comes as the platform launches its first family-oriented original series, Mr. Mom. The first two epsiodes of the 11 episode reboot of a John Hughes comedy classic is available starting today, with new batches of episodes dropping every week.
