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Gemstar-TV Guide Suite Revealed

Los Angeles — Gemstar-TV Guide International said it will demonstrate at the upcoming National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) show in Las Vegas (May 7-9) a suite of cross-platform personalized guidance tools and services designed to simplify the viewing selection process for consumers.

Gemstar-TV Guide said the personalized guidance solutions suite, called “My TV Guide,” will offer a content-rich, integrated guidance experience to consumers browsing for viewing options on platforms ranging from traditional linear television to the Internet and mobile devices.

My TV Guide tools and services will be offered by Gemstar-TV Guide to distributors, who will work with the company to develop custom solutions for their customers.

The technology will be licensed to distributors across cable, satellite, telco, CE and mobile, including those deploying Gemstar-TV Guide’s iGuide, Passport and CE IPG product lines.

The company said the new suite was designed “to complement existing interactive program guides (IPGs), and will begin to roll out later this year, with the initial phases of deployment taking place primarily on the Web.”

Living room-oriented applications are expected to reach consumers beginning in 2008.

Revenue will be generated for Gemstar-TV Guide through licensing fees, advertising and commerce opportunities, the company said.

Steve Shannon, Gemstar-TV Guide product development executive VP and GM, said, “We found that consumers are very interested in a personalized guidance experience. My TV Guide is being designed to deliver to consumers entertaining and informative content, allowing them to get closer to their favorite shows and stars, and to receive relevant programming recommendations.”

He added that My TV Guide services will let consumers focus on the specific programs that interest them most, and will enable them to “manage their viewing options at any time, and from any place.”

The My TV Guide suite of tools includes the following applications:

·MetaPlus Enhanced Data: This includes new forms of guidance content and data to move beyond schedules to a more portal-style guide experience including program graphics, video previews and extras, celebrity and movie data, editorial recommendations, family ratings and show recaps.

·Personalized Guide Services: This will deliver a new level of simplicity using TV Guide’s proprietary Smart Recommendations technology that uses sophisticated algorithms to match viewers with the most relevant shows and favorite celebrities and sports teams. It will also involve the use of personalized Hot Lists of dozens of specialized programming options by various genres that will be compiled by TV Guide’s editorial staff.

·Cross Platform Messaging: This will enable interoperability between set-top, PC and mobile devices, allowing consumers to use a remote recording service to schedule recordings from their laptop while traveling or receive alerts on their cellphone when a favorite program is about to air.

·The Advanced Guide Ad Services: This deliver similar attributes of Internet advertising to interactive program guides. Gemstar-TV Guide said the service will help partners monetize their guide through targeted, graphically-rich ads. It will also add interactive extras such as the ability to view a full-screen video, order a pay-per-view program, set up a DVR recording, visit an interactive showcase and request additional information.

·Client Applications: This is a toolkit for service providers that will speed up client-side implementation of the My TV Guide services. For a more personalized experience, partners will be able to deploy “MyGuide,” a personalized guidance home page or TV “dashboard” which will provide a summary of favorite programs and recommendations for each member of the family on TV, Web and mobile environments.

In related news, Gemstar-TV Guide said it has agreements with several multichannel video providers to collaborate on My TV Guide services. TVGuide.com will offer remote recording services available from Verizon’s FiOS TV service, EchoStar Communications and DirecTV.

The remote recording capability will also be offered to TV Guide’s IPG affiliates as part of the A26 i-Guide release, which is currently planned for early 2008. Field trials of remote recording are scheduled to commence during the second half of 2007.

Gemstar-TV Guide said it has also signed agreements to provide its Listings2Go online television guide application to 21 cable companies, including Suddenlink, a top 10 MSO.

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