Comcast is the latest company to make kids programming available to customers as lockdowns continue across the globe. The telecom giant announced today that they made nearly 2,000 hours of programming for kids K-12 available free of charge for their Xfinity customers.
“Today Xfinity is making thousands of hours of educational programming and resources available to our customers through Xfinity on Demand as we know how challenging it is for families right now who are suddenly homeschooling young children – many with both parents working, as well,” said Rebecca Heap, SVP of video and entertainment. “The programming selected in partnership with Common Sense Media is available in one comprehensive destination organized by grade level to make it as easy as possible for parents to find what is most relevant to their family.”
The new content is a joint effort between Comcast and Common Sense Media — a non-profit organization that “provides education and advocacy to families to promote safe technology and media for children” — whose ratings and reviews are integrated into Xfinity on Demand. A subset of the education collection is also available on Xfinity Flex and across devices via the Xfinity Stream app and website.
Xfinity customers now have access to content from services such as Bluprint, CuriosityStream, The Great Courses Signature Collection, Grokker Yoga Fitness, History Vault, Kids Room and The Reading Corner. Free programming is also available from networks, including Animal Planet, History, Nick Jr., PBS KIDS, Smithsonian Channel and more. Spanish-language programming is also included with content from CBeebies, Discovery Familia and Kids Central.
“Additionally, Comcast has enlisted the guidance of Natascha Crandall, Ph.D., a psychologist and educator to program the content across English Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies based on grade appropriate guidelines aligned with the current U.S. school curriculum,” the company revealed.
Comcast joins services such as Amazon Prime Video that are unleashing their extensive libraries in order to provide children with entertaining and educational content during this time. Last week, Amazon dropped their paywall and gave free access to kids’ programming across the globe.
According to Variety, everyone now has access to content that was previously exclusive to Prime Video customers, including Amazon original series “Just Add Magic,” “Pete the Cat” and “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.” Select seasons of PBS Kids shows such as “Arthur,” “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” “Odd Squad” and “Wild Kratts” are also available, and in Europe, third-party content includes “Peppa Pig” and “Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom.”