This topic

BT Box/NOW TV keeps asking for parental PIN even though age restrictions are OFF

PhilC42 — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 06:23:43 GMT

BT Box/NOW TV keeps asking for parental PIN even though age restrictions are OFF

I have set age restrictions to be OFF on both my BT Box and on NOW TV, both are OFF, and yet any time I want to watch a TV series on NOW TV I am asked at the start of each episode for my PIN again, it is so annoying, does anyone else see this?

Anyone know how to stop this problem? Clearly, turning age restrictions off does not work?

many thanks

Re: BT Box/NOW TV keeps asking for parental PIN even though age restrictions are OFF

welshgit — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 06:55:32 GMT

i believe its a sky thing and there is no way of stopping it ,it does not pop up after 8pm AND yes it is very annoying and completely pointless in my opinion

Re: BT Box/NOW TV keeps asking for parental PIN even though age restrictions are OFF

PhilC42 — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 07:00:22 GMT

thank you for replying, it is so annoying, another reason to wish I had just gone with Sky instead of BT, so many annoying bugs 😞

Re: BT Box/NOW TV keeps asking for parental PIN even though age restrictions are OFF

mikealanr — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 07:18:01 GMT

Hi @PhilC42

This applies to all broadcasters and happens on Sky, Virgin Media etc when broadcasting age restricted content, Ofcom require a PIN.

Its referred to as ‘Mandatory PIN Protection’ as documented here: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0025/125359/statement-mandatory-daytime-protection-rules.pdf

MikeAlanR

Re: BT Box/NOW TV keeps asking for parental PIN even though age restrictions are OFF

DarrenDev — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 11:51:45 GMT

The mandatory PIN prompt should only appear when watching channels - there's no requirement for PIN when watching on-demand content if you've turned off content protection.

Re: BT Box/NOW TV keeps asking for parental PIN even though age restrictions are OFF

PhilC42 — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 06:04:35 GMT

so why do they bother having a setting to disable it if it doesn't work

Re: BT Box/NOW TV keeps asking for parental PIN even though age restrictions are OFF

NigelB72 — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 07:30:57 GMT

If it's happening when viewing On Demand content via the NowTV app, you might need to disable the PIN requirement in the actual app. To do this, head into the Settings and PIN are of NowTV's My Account and change the age restriction settings. You might need to do this via their main online account rather than the app.

Re: BT Box/NOW TV keeps asking for parental PIN even though age restrictions are OFF

zulu17 — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 09:39:55 GMT

Currently the relevant support help pages are

https://www.bt.com/help/tv/getting-set-up/setting-up-bt-tv/pin-help-on-bt-tv

https://help.nowtv.com/article/what-is-a-viewing-pin

Re: BT Box/NOW TV keeps asking for parental PIN even though age restrictions are OFF

Hassan_863 — Sun, 31 May 2026 16:44:19 GMT

Bumping this older thread because this app-to-box sync issue still catches people out on the BT platform.

If anyone else is finding this topic via search and tracking down why their 'OFF' settings aren't saving, it's usually because the physical BT box hasn't pulled the updated metadata token from the master account.

To fix the synchronization loop:

Turn off the restriction in a desktop browser rather than inside the limited TV app interface. You can visit now to verify your regional settings match the server timezone parameters, ensuring your main viewing profile doesn't conflict with local broadcasting schedules.
Completely log out of the NOW app on the BT box.
Perform a hard restart on the box to wipe the temporary session cache.

Once you log back in, the device will force-load the new configuration without the persistent PIN prompts on standard on-demand titles.