Rovi Provides DTA Guides to NCTC, Renews Long-Term Deals
By | April 30, 2014
Rovi made three announcements at the Cable Show in Los Angeles on Tuesday: an agreement with NCTC to provide Rovi DTA Guides for its membership, a renewal of a multi-year deal with Panasonic to provide its interactive program guide patents and solutions for their products, and a long-term renewal and patent license agreement with Canada’s Shaw Communications to provide its i-Guide interactive program guide in set-top boxes.
NCTC members can license Rovi’s DTA software guide solution through the cooperative and deploy its guides on standard and high-def DTAs, enabling cable operators to go all-digital in basic cable homes. The guides include navigation capabilities, channel tuning, language options and parental controls.
“The cable industry is eager to complete their transition to an all-digital footprint,” said Corey McCarthy, senior vice president of business development and CFO, NCTC, in a release. “We’re heralding the benefits of this change with additional capabilities across all of our devices—even on the basic DTA. Our agreement with Rovi will offer our members the ability to bring a navigation experience and show added value as they switch over their subscriber base to digital services," he said.
The deal with Panasonic Corporation included Latin America and China and grants the company access to intuitive search, targeted recommendation services and Rovi data, or information and editorial content on TV shows, films and celebrities. The deal also includes the rights to use the HTML5-based G-Guide and Rovi’s HTML Guide. “With entertainment content on the rise, Rovi remains dedicated to working with our customers on delivering services that create unique and personalized viewing experiences for consumers,” said Matt Milne, evp, worldwide sales and marketing for Rovi, in a release.
Rovi’s i-Guide will continue to be used by satellite provider Shaw Communications. “i-Guide is a solid product that continues to be enjoyed by our subscribers as a way to discover and navigate television content,” said Ron McKenzie, vice president, operations, Shaw Communications Inc. The guide provides linear and time-shifted TV navigation, as well as VOD and DVR functionality, and is powered by Rovi’s metadata.