Interactive television program guide system with multiple account parental control

A method for use in an interactive television system having user television equipment on which an interactive television application is at least partially implemented to provide parental control of television programming that is available for viewing by users without purchasing, comprising:

• using the interactive television application to support multiple user accounts, wherein each of the user accounts has an associated personal identification code;
• setting parental control criteria for each of the user accounts;
• blocking the television programming that match at least one of the parental control criteria;
• allowing a user to view the blocked television programming by entering a personal identification code associated with one of the user accounts that has parental control criteria that permits viewing of the blocked television programming;
• tracking the blocked television programming that has been viewed based on the personal identification code that was entered to view the television programming;
• and
• displaying a log of blocked television programming that has been viewed without purchasing, wherein the log includes information on the multiple user accounts that are associated with the personal identification codes that were entered to view the blocked television programming and wherein the information on the multiple user accounts further includes account names that correspond to the personal identification codes that were entered to view the blocked television programming.

An interactive television system having user television equipment on which an interactive television application is at least partially implemented to provide parental control of television programming that is available for viewing by users without purchasing, comprising:

• means for using the interactive television application to support multiple user accounts, wherein each of the user accounts has an associated personal identification code;
• means for setting parental control criteria for each of the user accounts;
• means for blocking the television programming that match at least one of the parental control criteria;
• means for allowing a user to view the blocked television programming by entering a personal identification code associated with one of the user accounts that has parental control criteria that permits viewing of the blocked television programming;
• means for tracking the blocked television programming that has been viewed based on the personal identification code that was entered to view the television programming;
• and
• means for displaying a log of blocked television programming that has been viewed without purchasing, wherein the log includes information on the multiple user accounts that are associated with the personal identification codes that were entered to view the blocked television programming and wherein the information on the multiple user accounts further includes account names that correspond to the personal identification codes that were entered to view the blocked television programming.

Machine-readable media for use in an interactive television system having user television equipment on which an interactive television application is at least partially implemented to provide parental control of television programming that is available for viewing by users without purchasing, wherein the machine-readable media is encoded with machine-readable instructions thereon for:

• using the interactive television application to support multiple user accounts, wherein each of the user accounts has an associated personal identification code;
• setting parental control criteria for each of the user accounts;
• blocking the television programming that match at least one of the parental control criteria;
• allowing a user to view the blocked television programming by entering a personal identification code associated with one of the user accounts that has parental control criteria that permits viewing of the blocked television programming;
• tracking the blocked television programming that has been viewed based on the personal identification code that was entered to view the television programming;
• and
• displaying a log of blocked television programming that has been viewed without purchasing, wherein the log includes information on the multiple user accounts that are associated with the personal identification codes that were entered to view the blocked television programming and wherein the information on the multiple user accounts further includes account names that correspond to the personal identification codes that were entered to view the blocked television programming.