Vudu, Walmart’s video-streaming unit, is promising parents new tools to evaluate and control what their kids watch — including a way to skip scenes with sex, nudity or violence.
The family-viewing features are launching alongside Vudu’s first original series, also aimed at family audiences: “Mr. Mom,” a reboot of the 1980s John Hughes comedy, produced by MGM, with the first two episodes available Sept. 12.
“We’ve heard from customers that they’re concerned about what their family can browse and watch on Vudu,” said Jeremy Verba, VP and general manager of Vudu.
Vudu is introducing three new features. First is Family Play, which lets viewers automatically skip or mute “objectionable” content, such as profanity, sex and nudity, violence and substance abuse. Vudu also is now offering ratings and reviews from Common Sense Media, and it is adding a “kids’ mode” walled-garden account setting that lets parents set age-based restrictions on what their children can watch or purchase (also powered by Common Sense Media).