My virgin tivo box has recently started to ask me for the pin to unlock a channel before 21.00 because its classified as a 15
Never asked me before , so I went to settings, parental controls, lock channels and selected unlock all channels.
But it has no effect and still asks for a pin to watch sky max which is ridiculous
Yeah it's an in convenience only adults in my house. It prevents my elderly mother accessing programmes she doesn't understand techie stuff so she will go to the next programme that isn't locked as she can't remember pins
The standard PIN Virgin Media set is 1234. Could you not set it to something simple like that or repeated digits such as 9999 so that your mother can remember?
It is odd that the apps such as Prime and Netflix can allow viewing of any legal content at any time, but that linear TV and its catch-up is subject to this rule. I can't see any UK government relaxing their strict censorship. This itself was a reluctant relaxation of the watershed.
What is also annoying is the inconsistency between Sky channels. I'm not sure if this is due to a mistake in VM's EPG data, or Sky's actual EPG data.
I'm afraid I can't compare the VM EPG data with the online data from Sky's own EPG as they (Sky) have discontinued their online TV guide. (see <Here>
An episode of a program can be broadcast at the same time on two different channels and one of the channels allows you to watch without entering a watershed pin, however the other channel won't allow you to access the program without the pin.
For example Stargate SG-1 airing at 10am weekdays on Sky Showcase and Sky Max. You don't need the watershed pin if watching on Sky Showcase.
PG shows in the synopsis for that show on Sky Max, hence the need for the PIN, however it isn't classified on Sky Showcase so no PIN required.
This is "Mandatory Daytime Protection" and is a regulatory requirement for any broadcaster wishing to show age-restricted content during daytime hours.
You could direct a complaint at Ofcom, but the requirements are in-place to allow a free reign on daytime scheduling.
This has been annoying me for some time. Thanks for your the answer however, my question would be, we're now in 2025, surely it's possible to allow households to turn this feature off at their own discretion. There's many households where no under 18s live or visit, a household such as this should be able to turn the feature off. AFTER agreeing to a disclaimer (maybe reviewed once a quarter?) this will remove any barriers providers may have should a show/recording is viewed below the classification rating?
Don’t forget, this is a “nanny” state & the authorities don’t trust parents to control what their offspring sees anymore. If anything this will get worse with the same type of controls now planned for the internet. With the present Whitehall incumbents in charge I would not be surprised if the time will come where you may have to pass something akin to a criminal records check every year just to access social media.
