Gemstar-TV Guide and Comcast will launch their first jointly deve...
Gemstar-TV Guide and Comcast will launch their first jointly developed electronic program guide (EPG) by late summer, CEO Jeffrey Shell told us after the company’s annual shareholders meeting in N.Y.C. The companies, which formed the Guide Works joint venture…
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this year, are essentially reworking the I-Guide that Gemstar previously had under development, and will introduce it first on Comcast’s cable systems, he said. The EPG will be a key ingredient in the Guide Works’ efforts to establish a cable standard for program guides, said Shell, whose company received a $250 million up-front licensing fee from Comcast and will market the jointly developed product to other MSOs. Gemstar has a 49% of Guide Works and has contributed 100 employees, while Comcast holds the remaining 51%, Shell said. Meanwhile, Gemstar’s EPG agreement with Time Warner Cable, will likely result in parts of the guide rather than the whole package going on the MSO’s system, Shell said. Gemstar also is planning to further expand its TV Guide Channel, which is expected to reach 80 million homes when it launches on EchoStar’s DISH service later this month. In conjunction with a revamped version of the TV Guide Channel, Gemstar is developing TV Guide Land, an on-demand guide that will provide highlights of TV shows mixed with editorial. TV Guide Land -- which will likely be available on Comcast systems as well as DirecTV and EchoStar satellite services -- also will allow the viewer to pause, fast forward, rewind and scroll through programming, Shell said.