Rovi Rises on Charter Deal

Shares in electronic program guide and metadata specialist Rovi Corp. popped more than 8% Monday after announcing that it had struck a multiyear license renewal with Charter Communications, an MSO that’s poised to be the second largest in the U.S., should a series of pending transactions, including the proposed merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable, go through.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but Rovi said the renewal extends Charter’s IPG patent license, and provides the MSO with the ability to license other tech and services, including Rovi’s search, metadata, recommendations, analytics systems and “Conversation Services” that are playing a role in new voice-based navigation systems

The deal is also coming together as Charter prepares to broaden the deployment of Spectrum Guide, a new cloud-based interface that will run on older QAM-locked boxes as well as IP-capable devices, such as the MSO’s new “Worldbox."

For the full story go to Multichannel.com.