Method and apparatus for managing viewing of media content

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, comprising instructions which, responsive to being executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

• generating parental control information for each of a plurality of users according to options selected from a plurality of media program tags retrieved from a library, wherein a first media program is associated with a first media program tag and a second media program tag of the plurality of media program tags, wherein the first media program tag is associated with a first media channel of a plurality of tunable channels, wherein the second media program tag is associated with a second media channel of the plurality of tunable channels, wherein the first media program tag differs from the second media program tag, and wherein the first media channel differs from the second media channel;
• detecting assignments of the plurality of media programs to a restricted list or to an unrestricted list, the assignments based on parental control administrator inputs via a graphical user interface;
• detecting a first user of the plurality of users according to biometric information of the first user;
• identifying the parental control information associated with the first user;
• tuning to the first media channel responsive to receiving a first request;
• receiving in the first media channel the first media program tag associated with the first media program, wherein the first media program tag is included in the plurality of media program tags of the library;
• detecting in the first media channel a second media program without an associated media program tag;
• selecting a custom media program tag from a list of unused media program tags stored in the storage medium;
• associating the second media program with the custom media program tag, so that the custom media program tag uniquely identifies the second media program;
• and
• enabling presentation of the first media program at a presentation device responsive to detecting from the parental control information associated with the first user that the first media program tag is included in a first list of unrestricted media program presentations.

A set-top box, comprising:

• a sensor;
• a memory to store executable instructions;
• and
• a processor coupled to the sensor and the memory, wherein responsive to executing the instructions, the processor performs operations comprising:
• generating parental control information for each of a plurality of users according to options selected from a plurality of media program tags retrieved from a library comprising a plurality of media programs, wherein a first media program of the plurality of media programs is associated with a first media program tag and a second media program tag of the plurality of media program tags, wherein the first media program tag is associated with a first media channel of a plurality of tunable channels, wherein the second media program tag is associated with a second media channel of the plurality of tunable channels, wherein the first media program tag differs from the second media program tag, and wherein the first media channel differs from the second media channel;
• detecting assignments of the plurality of media programs to a restricted list or to an unrestricted list by a parental control administrator;
• sensing a first user of the plurality of users according to biometric information of the first user;
• obtaining the parental control information associated with the first user;
• receiving in a first media channel a first media program tag associated with a first media program, wherein the first media program tag is included in the plurality of media program tags of the library;
• detecting in the first media channel a second media program without an associated media program tag;
• selecting a custom media program tag from a list of unused media program tags stored in the set-top box;
• associating the second media program with the custom media program tag, so that the custom media program tag uniquely identifies the second media program;
• and
• enabling presentation of the first media program at a presentation device responsive to detecting from the parental control information associated with the first user that the first media program tag is included in a first list of unrestricted media program presentations.