Tribune Media Services will make its interactive programme guide available on a range of consumer electronics products under an agreement with the company behind ReplayTV.
Under the joint marketing agreement, TV programme listings will be available through an interactive programme guide based on a 3D graphics engine designed to take advantage of high-definition displays. The data will be delivered using infrastructure currently used to manage and update data and software for ReplayTV and Rio customers.
The service will support a wide range of broadband and modem-connected devices such as next-generation TVs, DVD recorders, DVR video recorders and media centres. The system also allows consumer electronics manufacturers to download new software to devices and enable transactional features.
Bernie Sepaniak of D&M Holdings, which owns brands such as Denon, Marantz, Rio, ReplayTV and Escient, said “This joint offering also gives CE makers great freedom to differentiate themselves in terms of presentation interface, features and services.”
Barbara Needleman of Tribune Media Services, which publishes programme data collected from 12,500 sources around the world, added: “The market for devices utilizing EPGs and other connected content services is expected to grow exponentially over the next five years. In this environment, information about content is becoming as important as content itself.”