Gemstar-TV Guide International signed a multiyear agreement with Sony USA to integrate TV Guide On Screen interactive program guide into Sony’s primary line of television products.
Sony USA is the first partner to employ "hybrid integration," according to Gemstar-TV Guide, which means the IPG will be built directly into Sony’s custom user interface and will available immediately for consumer use.
More than a dozen consumer electronics manufacturers currently license Gemstar TV-Guide’s IPG for CE devices, including Mitsubishi and Philips.
TV Guide On Screen delivers continually updated program listings to users, delivered through the vertical blanking interval (VBI) in analog broadcasts and via a deal with CBS for digital broadcasts. The guide, for which Gemstar-TV Guide sells advertising, is available at no extra cost to consumers.
Gemstar-TV Guide, is in the process of being acquired by digital rights management vendor Macrovision, in a deal valued at $2.8 billion. The deal is expected to close by early second quarter 2008.
