Gemstar-TV Guide Strikes IPG Deals
Sony USA, Polaroid Labs to Use Gemstar-TV Guide International Interactive Program Guides
By Jon Hemingway -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/9/2008 11:49:00 AM
Gemstar-TV Guide International struck two new deals in the new year for its interactive program guides with Sony USA and Polaroid Labs.
Gemstar-TV Guide inked a deal with Sony to integrate its IPG, which provides program listings, into the consumer-electronics giant’s television sets.
The multiyear agreement with Sony USA marks the first partnership in which the TV Guide On Screen IPG will be built into a set-maker’s custom user interface. The deal opens the door to future adoption of Gemstar’s suite of My TV Guide cross-platform guidance products.
"This new IPG licensing agreement with Sony and the hybrid integration they plan to employ illustrates how Gemstar-TV Guide is creating additional growth avenues for our navigation technology while preserving a manufacturer's unique interface for a positive viewing experience," Gemstar-TV Guide president of North American IPGs Thomas Carson said in a statement.
Additionally the company signed a multiyear product-license agreement with Polaroid to integrate the company’s IPG into some Polaroid digital-video recorders and digital televisions.
The licensing pact includes Gemstar’s Data Loader product, to be initially incorporated into Polaroid DVRs, which allows users to create their own graphical user interface for the IPG. Polaroid is the first consumer-electronics company to integrate this feature and beginning deploying products with the IPG in early 2008.
"In addition to continuing to show the value the marketplace sees in our IPG products, this agreement with Polaroid signifies Gemstar-TV Guide's commitment to providing new and unique IPG products that are tailored to the specific needs of our [consumer-electronics] customers," Carson said.
Last month, Gemstar-TV Guide agreed to be acquired by Macrovision, a provider of digital protection technology, in a deal worth $2.8 billion. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.
