SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 18, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rovi Corporation (Nasdaq:ROVI) today announced that it is offering cable television service providers the ability to deploy interactive television services through the integration of Enhanced Television (ETV)/ Enhanced Binary Interchange Format (EBIF) applications and widgets on Rovi Passport Guide and i-Guide. In collaboration with FourthWall Media, Rovi is launching a standards-based ETV/EBIF Solution comprised of an EBIF User Agent and ETV Platform Server to facilitate the integration of a variety of third party applications with the guide, and a starter kit of FourthWall applications that includes Yellow Pages on TV, eBay on TV, News, Weather, Sports and Finance.
In addition, Rovi announced that Blue Ridge Communications, a service provider based in Pennsylvania, has licensed and is the first to deploy the ETV/EBIF Solution and the TV Widgets® on Rovi Passport Guide to its subscriber base. "The enhanced television solutions from Rovi and FourthWall broaden our services and give us new interactive capabilities to offer our customers," said Mark Masenheimer, vice president of operations at Blue Ridge Communications.
The ETV/EBIF Solution provides consumers with the ability to easily access interactive television services through simple widgets and applications. "By combining this interactive capability with Rovi guide, we're offering service providers a way to complement the entertainment experience for their customers and extend their platform to include features such as advanced advertising, news information and programming-based applications," said Corey Ferengul, executive vice president of product management and marketing, Rovi Corporation. "We look forward to working with service providers to continue to expand upon what they can offer their customers, starting with Blue Ridge Communications."
"The world of interactive television has hit an inflection point and television is changing at a rapid pace. With this in mind we are pleased to work with Rovi and its customers to offer ETV/EBIF solutions and applications that provide both a universal platform and an array of interactive applications for television viewers," said Ellen Dudar, chief product officer for FourthWall Media.
The ETV/EBIF Solution is available on the Passport Guide now and will be made available on i-Guide at a future date. The ETV/EBIF Solution includes the TV Widget Application Launcher that makes it easy for users to access applications from the Rovi guide's Quick Menu.
This announcement follows an agreement between Rovi and FourthWall Media made earlier this year to provide a universally integrated ETV/EBIF Solution and Applications to set-top boxes from Motorola, Cisco and Pace. Rovi currently serves close to 500 service providers in North America and South America, who can choose to implement this expanded product offering. To learn more about FourthWall Media TV Widgets®, visit . To learn more about Rovi guides, please visit .
About FourthWall Media
FourthWall Media is an Emmy-nominated media company driving the creative revolution in interactive television through solutions that break through the 'fourth wall' to engage audiences, extend subscriber loyalty and deliver detailed measurement and reporting. The company's EBIF solutions include the Ad Widgets® end-to-end advertising system, AdAim™ Audience Measurement Suite, TV Widgets® applications such as eBay on TV, Fantasy Football, TV Buy Button with PayPal, and Yellow Pages on TV; and a technology platform for Cisco, Motorola, and tru2way set-top boxes. FourthWall Media products and technology are distributed by Comcast Media Center, Time Warner Cable, Charter Communications, Rovi, DISH Network, and several other MSOs, and have been deployed in over 24 million set-top boxes. Learn more at .
About Rovi Corporation
Rovi Corporation is focused on revolutionizing the digital entertainment landscape by delivering solutions that enable consumers to intuitively connect to new entertainment from many sources and locations. The company also provides extensive entertainment discovery solutions for television, movies, music and photos to its customers in the consumer electronics, cable and satellite, entertainment and online distribution markets. These solutions, complemented by industry leading entertainment data, create the connections between people and technology, and enable them to discover and manage entertainment in an enjoyable form.
Rovi holds over 4,700 issued or pending patents worldwide and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, with numerous offices across the United States and around the world including Japan, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, and the United Kingdom. More information about Rovi can be found at .
The Rovi Corporation logo is available at
Forward Looking Statements
All statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact, including statements that use the words "will" or "is expected to," or similar words that describe the Company's or its management's future plans, objectives, or goals, are "forward-looking statements" and are made pursuant to the Safe-Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the actual results of the Company to be materially different from the historical results and/or from any future results or outcomes expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors are further addressed in the Company's most recent report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2010 and such other documents as are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time (available at www.sec.gov ). The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release, except as required by law.
CONTACT: Rovi Corporation Linda Quach +011 408 562 8504 linda.quach@rovicorp.com FourthWall Media John Totaro 917-859-4873 jtotaro@fourthwallmedia.tv