Netflix is giving kids and their parents a new reason to embrace its Internet video subscription service amid an outcry over an upcoming price increase in the United States.
A “Just For Kids” tab will be added to subscribers’ accounts on Netflix’s website beginning Tuesday in both Canada and the United States.
Clicking on the feature will pull up a list of kid-friendly recommendations drawn from the company’s internet video streaming library.
The move is especially significant in the U.S. where, as part of its de-emphasis on DVDs, Netflix last month announced it will unbundle the unlimited video streaming option from is most popular plans that also include disc rentals.
The children’s feature grew out of Netflix’s recognition that its video streaming service is making it easier for kids to watch movies on a variety of devices at almost any time and any place with a high-speed Internet connection. The video can be streamed through video game consoles, the iPad computer tablet and smartphones. Netflix makes it even easier by allowing several people from the same household to stream through the same account.
It won’t suggest titles that are only available as DVD rentals delivered through the mail for its U.S. services. That’s an option that Netflix is trying to make less enticing to subscribers to so it can spend more money expanding its selection of video streaming options.
In Canada, the company offers only internet streaming to its subscribers, and the pricing plan remains the same.
The children’s channel initially will only be confined to Netflix’s website. Todd Yellin, the company’s vice-president of product innovation said the company plans to add the tab to accounts accessed through the Nintendo Wii and other video game consoles, as well as the iPad.
