There
are
two
types
of
parents
I’m
friends
with:
those
who
let
their
kids
watch
YouTube
and
those
who
work
very
hard
to
keep
their
kids
as
far
from
YouTube
as
possible.
Given
I
know
at
least
one
small
child
who
developed
an
obsession
with
dictators
after
getting
around
the
YouTube
parental
controls,
I
understand
the
divide.
Streaming
services
seem
to
understand
that
divide,
too,
and
are
eager
to
provide
an
alternative
to
YouTube
that
gives
parents
all
the
set-and-forget
appeal
of
YouTube
without,
hopefully,
the
questions
about
Kim
Jong
Un’s
rise
to
power.
Paramount
Plus,
with
its
massive
library
of
Nickelodeon
shows,
is
a
little
more
primed
than
other
streamers
that
have
had
to
create
a
library
of
kids
content
from
scratch.
In
a
conversation
on
Zoom,
Dan
Reich,
executive
vice
president
and
global
head
of
product
and
design
of
Paramount
Plus,
told
me
it
was
the
number
two
content
draw
for
the
platform,
which
is
a
big
reason
the
streaming
service
just
overhauled
its
whole
kids
experience.
The
company
wants
it
to
be
an
“easy,
fun
place
tailored
to
the
demo.”
Reich
and
Paramount
Plus
wanted
to
make
the
streaming
service
a
safer
place
for
kids
so
it
will
now
be
easier
to
set
up
children’s
profiles.
When
you
go
in
to
add
a
new
profile,
there’s
now
a
toggle
for
Kids
Mode
and
an
option
for
Younger
Kids
age-gated
to
TV-Y
and
G-rated
stuff
and
an
Older
Kids
option
age-gated
up
to
PG
content.
Reich
was
quick
to
note
that
the
profiles
would
not
be
gathering
any
personal
data
on
the
kids.
This
means
a
lot
less
personalization
but
also
hopefully
fewer
recommendations
that
might
not
be
appropriate.
The
new
carousel
with
a
hint
of
the
icons
that
will
replace
text.Image
by
Paramount
Plus
Instead,
personalization
will
be
user-directed,
which
is
a
fancy
way
of
saying
it
will
rely
on
traditional
streaming
UI
tricks
like
suggesting
they
keep
watching
a
show
they
had
to
pause
for
homework
or
suggesting
they
watch
something
again
—
which
most
kids
rarely
need
prompting
to
do.
(I
once
watched
Monsters
vs.
Aliens
at
least
six
times
at
a
destination
wedding
with
my
nephew.
That
was
entirely
too
many
times.)
But
personalization
will
also
largely
be
reserved
for
older
children
—
think
ages
seven
to
12.
Younger
kids
(Reich
mentioned
ages
two
to
six)
will
have
a
different
experience
with
big
icons
and
precious
few
words,
which
makes
sense
as
that’s
around
the
age
you’re
actually
learning
literacy.
Besides
easier
profile
creation,
the
landing
page
for
kids
content
has
also
gotten
a
major
refresh
with
a
big
carousel
similar
to
the
one
found
in
the
adult
version
of
Paramount
Plus.
Reich
noted
that
the
carousel
works,
too
—
with
a
17
percent
improvement
in
playback
rate.
And
if
you’re
worried
about
Paramount
Plus
babysitting
a
child
too
much,
Reich
was
also
quick
to
note
that
autoplay
is
automatically
turned
off
in
children’s
profiles.
This
redesign
loses
big
words
to
keep
smaller
kids
invested.Image
by
Paramount
Plus
These
changes
are
already
live
on
the
Paramount
Plus
app
as
of
April
22th,
but
in
our
conversation,
Reich
mentioned
some
other
changes
coming
later
to
the
platform,
including
the
possibility
of
using
generative
AI
to
create
playlists
of
kids
content
and
artwork
and
a
new
profile
creation
prompt
that’s
expected
to
launch
in
Q2.
And
these
are
all
good
things!
Before
streaming
dominated
content
consumption,
kids
content
was
pretty
well
sorted
onto
channels
and
time
blocks
geared
just
for
them.
It
was
the
whole
point
of
Nickelodeon
for
decades.
That
meant
kids
were
getting
the
stuff
they
wanted
to
watch
(and
that
network
censors
felt
was
appropriate),
and
adults
were
not
having
to
sift
through
a
bunch
of
kiddy
content
to
find
what
they
wanted
to
watch.
Being
a
Paramount
Plus
user,
I’ve
definitely
noticed
I
get
a
lot
fewer
recommendations
for
kids
content
than
I
do
on
Netflix
and
Disney
Plus
—
which
both
assume
a
child
is
living
in
the
house
with
me
just
because
I
sometimes
get
mopey
and
rewatch
She-Ra
and
the
Princesses
of
Power
or
Beauty
and
the
Beast.
When
I
rewatched
The
Legend
of
Korra,
Paramount
Plus
suggested
I
rewatch
Avatar:
The
Last
Airbender
or
the
very
violent
and
adult
Ark:
The
Animated
Series
instead
of
something
like
Dora
the
Explorer.
It
was
a
nice
experience
to
have
the
platform
understand
I’m
an
adult
who
likes
cartoons
and
not
just
assume
cartoon
equals
baby.
And
as
streaming
continues
to
supplant
cable
as
the
way
we
watch
content,
other
streaming
services
are
going
to
need
to
get
more
thoughtful
about
how
they
present
and
separate
that
content.
So
far,
it
looks
like
Paramount
Plus
might
be
giving
them
a
nice
blueprint.
(Originally posted by Alex Cranz)
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