TiVo said it has inked a long-term intellectual property license agreement with premium programmer Starz.
Financial terms were not announced, but the new deal includes a license to TiVo’s patent portfolios, as well as OTT assets of the Intellectual Ventures patent portfolio. TiVo and IV inked a licensing partnership involving those OTT-related patents back in 2016.
Starz launched its new app, which supports both its direct-to-consumer OTT offering as well as its authenticated TV Everywhere service about two years ago.
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“This licensing agreement with Starz emphasizes the importance of TiVo’s patent portfolios, especially for companies who are working to keep up with rapid developments and changes in the OTT space,” Arvin Patel, executive vice president and chief intellectual property officer, Rovi Corp., a unit of TiVo.
Though TiVo has been successful in inking IP and patent deals with content providers and major distributors in recent months, the overhang in its business continues to be the lack of a deal with Comcast. TiVo and Comcast continue to battle it out in the courts and at the International Trade Commission.
