Macrovision Readies ‘Connected Platform’ for late 2009

The new platform would combine the technologies of companies that Macrovision recently acquired, Budge said. Gemstar-TV Guide will provide EPG technology merged with All Media Guide metadata and Mediabolic’s networking software, Budge said. It likely would be deployed in CE products and cable and satellite set-top boxes and could command a $1 per unit royalty, Budge said. Macrovision now gets about 50 to 60 cents per cable STB, Budge said.

The new guide will be a gateway for generating ad revenue, now less than $10 million annually, Budge said. It will allow for audience measurement, the key to attracting advertisers, Budge said. Macrovision typically gets 50 percent of the advertising revenue from the guide, he said.

As it readies connected software, Macrovision expects to release a 10.2 version of TV Guide On-Screen (CED Aug 12 p1), to permit remote recording of TV shows from a cellphone, Budge said. Among the first products to have it will be Sony Bravia Internet-connected LCD TVs. Sony Pictures will send the movie Hancock to the sets in November before it’s available on DVD.

In addition to the new TV Guide EPG, tru2way versions of iGuide and Passport will be available to MSOs in Q1, Budge said. The OCAP-based iGuide was developed in Macrovision’s Guideworks venture with Comcast. The Java-based Passport, deployed with Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications, was a creature of Aptiv, which Macrovision bought for $16 million in 2007. The first tru2way EPGs may depart graphically from standard versions, but more advanced versions due in 2009 will adopt a client/server approach, company officials have said (CED Sept 17 p5). Macrovision signed an OCAP contributors agreement in September.

Macrovision has begun the “complex and onerous” process of joining the Eligible Code Developers group, Budge said. To do so, Macrovision must complete a preliminary 86-page document for its Blu-ray BD+ content protection technology. That will entitle the technology to undergo testing, Budge said. Macrovision bought the rights to BD+ and the contracts of Cryptography Research last year (CED Nov 27 p5). As a group member, Macrovision could author BD+ technology on Blu- ray discs for all movies studios.

The controlling group is 2C, comprised of Fox, Panasonic and Sony. 2C clearance could entitle Macrovision generate royalties of 10 cents per disc versus the three cents it gets for conventional DVDs, Budge said. Authoring would command about $5,000 per master, he said. “There are hurdles to getting it done and licensing is the bottleneck, Budge said. “I can’t say when it’s going to lift.”

As Macrovision introduces advanced platforms, the VCR Plus technology that helped launch Gemstar in 1990 will be scrapped by 2012, Budge said. VCR Plus produced about $30 million in revenue in international markets last year. It’s projected to generate half that next year, Budge said. Still, VCR Plus is an “incredibly profitable” technology, with 95 percent gross margins, he said.

Macrovision expects by year-end to complete the sale of TV Guide Network, TV Guide magazine and horse racing-based TV Games Network, Budge said. The businesses are valued at a combined $350 to $550 million, he said. Earlier this year Macrovision sent out non-disclosure agreements to 67 bidders and is in a second round of due diligence with a smaller number, said Budge, declining to give details. The active bidders mostly are interested in one or another of the businesses, he said. The combined value is “at the low end” of the forecast “given this environment,” Budge said.