For parents hoping to coax the kids to bed before the champagne pops on New Year’s Eve, Netflix is offering a time-bending solution.
For the second year in a row, the online streaming service will offer three-minute “countdown specials†that can be played at any time, allowing parents to drop the ball and ring in 2016 whenever they wish.
“We won’t tell them it’s not midnight if you don’t,†a trailer for the service coyly suggests.
The short videos are based off several Netflix kids’ shows and movies, including “Puffin Rock,†“Care Bears & Cousins,†“Inspector Gadget,†“King Julien,†“Mr. Peabody and Sherman†and “Project Mc2.â€
Netflix is touting the service as a solution for parents who “would jump at the chance to put their kids to bed before the clock strikes twelve.â€
According to a Netflix-commissioned online survey of 9,128 people in nine countries (including Canada), 96 per cent of Canadian parents plan on spending New Year’s Eve with their kids, and just over half would prefer to put their children to bed before midnight.
As for the ideal timing, the survey found that over 70 per cent of parents would begin the countdown before 11 p.m., and 20 per cent of parents would choose 9 p.m. as their ideal countdown time.
Last year Netflix offered a kid-friendly countdown for the first time, featuring King Julien from “Madagascar.â€