On Demand Weekly

A Parent's Perspective is a weekly column on parenting.

As a father of a 2 (almost 3) year old girl, I find myself continuously looking for new ways to win her affections. I am in a constant battle for her time with her “friends” – Dora, Elmo and Curious George. Whether on TV or in stuffed-animal/doll form, they always win out. At least I can score some points by accessing her friends on TV. If you are a parent and have not heard of the On Demand services on your cable system, let me enlighten you. I will start with the basics, On Demand allows you to quickly access TV shows, movies, music videos, sports and much much more.

You can specifically access children’s programming by following the main menu after pressing your On Demand button or turning to the On Demand channel on your cable box. On Comcast’s system, where I am located, the category is called KIDS. From the KIDS category you can access your kid’s favorite shows, from Sesame Street to Dora the Explorer to Barney to many many more. Comcast has divided the KIDS category into the following choices:

1. Nickelodeon

2. PBS Sprout

3. Cartoon Network

4. Disney Channel

5. Disney XD...

6. Free Movies

7. Noggin

8. Kids WB

9. Movies

10. Kid Spies

11. Scooby-Doo

12. Kabillion

13. Activity TV

14. Parents TV

15. Discovery Kids!

16. Boomerang

17. Baby Boost

18. KidzBop

19. Kids Karaoke

20. Kids Fun Fitness

21. 4Kids TV

22. Parent Controls

(This is not really necessary for Kids programs, but allows quick access to controlling your complete cable offerings) With the touch of a button you can whip up any of the hundreds of offerings for your children to watch. You can also fast-forward to their favorite parts or rewind to watch a scene again. Having this kind of access to serve up a show literally on demand for my kid has kept us from having to accumulate a massive DVD library as well as fill up our DVR with kids shows, although we have set aside DVR space for our daughters shows too. Plus the On Demand shows are refreshed regularly to provide an ever-changing selection for kids and parents. According to Time Warner Cable, viewership of the KIDS category is growing at 200% a year. So what are you waiting for – check it out for yourself and welcome to the world of on demand! Check out ODW’s KIDS picks for this week on the second page of This Week's Best and check back into our blog for the next edition of A Parent’s Perspective. -D. Turner