GMST news:
TV Guide Introduces Web Guide
NEW YORK, Apr 12, 2001 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- TV Guide Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc. (Nasdaq: GMST chart, msgs), has announced the launch of a Web Guide to daily, live Internet events.
The Web Guide is now operational on TV Guide Online(SM) (www.tvguide.com). In addition, an editorial selection of Web listings can be found in the other TV Guide platforms -- TV Guide(R) magazine, TV Guide Channel(SM) and TV Guide Interactive(SM). With the launch of Web Guide, TV Guide is poised to become an authority on quality Web events in much the same way it is the leader in television information and guidance.
The Web Guide online will feature the most notable Web events in the familiar TV Guide "grid" format along with online chats, interactive games and contests. TV Guide Online has developed a proprietary event gathering system that will then feed this information to other TV Guide platforms.
At launch, over 40 major event sites have signed on including CBS MarketWatch.com, RollingStone.com, Seventeen.com, Launch.com, COLUMBIArecords.com, getmusic.com, eYada.com and SciFi.com.
"This is yet another example of leveraging our brand and reach cross-platform. No brand is better positioned -- via multiple platforms, gross numbers of consumers reached on a weekly basis and a highly valued guidance heritage -- to break through on Web guidance. TV Guide is a true entertainment authority and this will allow us to do for the Internet what we did for television -- bring quality programming and information to an entertainment-hungry public," said Peter C. Boylan III, co-president and co-chief operating officer, Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc.
The Web Guide will become a new main section of TV Guide Online (www.tvguide.com) and offer a complete specialized listings grid of current Web events. All listings will directly link to the Web event, allowing users immediate access. The user-friendly format will also allow visitors to sort through and search the wealth of programming by a number of criteria including event type, event channels (sites), time, date and event categories.
Categories include music, sports, television, movies, teens and news. Editorial content on notable online events in each content category will also be provided in order to offer a greater level of guidance.
"Our Web Guide places live Internet events on the same entertainment level as television programs," said Tom Hagopian, president, TV Guide Online. "Visitors to TV Guide Online will now be able to find the best of the Web and the best of TV in one convenient place.
"Internet event promoters for the first time will have the opportunity to use the powerful platforms of TV Guide to build their audiences and awareness for their specific content. We encourage their participation and look forward to forming relationships with sites committed to building audience."
TV GUIDE magazine will continue to spotlight selected Web events and content in its "Web Guide" and "Sitelines" features in both its TV GUIDE digest and TV GUIDE Ultimate Cable editions. In addition to the Web listing presence online and in print, The TV Guide Channel will feature a selection of the best Web event listings as part of its daily programming.
Web Guide will be featured when appropriate in the second half of "Ask the Stars," a segment in which viewers query their favorite celebrities via TV Guide Online and get answers daily on TV Guide Channel. The segment airs at :40 after the hour.
TV Guide Interactive(SM) (servicing the digital television network) will highlight selected Web events as well. TV Guide Interactive, the on-screen guide now seen in more than 6 million homes with digital cable, will promote the Web Guide via interactive graphic advertisements. The viewer will be able to select ads using a remote and read information about specific Web sites and events listed in the Web Guide.
Today, TV Guide is a multi-dimensional brand fully equipped to serve the needs of a media-savvy audience through cross-platform guidance and original content. With the explosion of both Internet events and online audience, the introduction of the Web Guide is a natural evolution of the TV Guide brand into a comprehensive home entertainment companion.
The Web Guide specifically builds upon the company's recognized and reliable guidance expertise and familiar cross-platform listings format (TV Guide magazine, TV Guide Channel, TV Guide Online and both TV Guide Interactive -- the digital cable system on-screen guide -- and GUIDE Plus+(R) -- the on-screen guide built directly into television sets.)
The combined reach of the TV Guide brand (120 million people every month) offers both online content creators and advertisers a powerful vehicle and trusted environment to reach a mass audience.(a)
(a) Source: TV Guide Cross Platform Consumer Attitude & Usage Study, Horowitz & Associates, 2000, Nielsen Media Research
About Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc.
Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc. is a leading global technology and media company focused on consumer entertainment. The company has four major business sectors: the Technology and Licensing Sector, which is responsible for the development, licensing and protection of intellectual property and technology -- the company's technology includes the VCR Plus+(R) system, the interactive program guide ("IPG") marketed under the GUIDE Plus+(R) and TV Guide Interactive(SM) brands and the electronic book ("Gemstar eBook(TM)"); the Interactive Platform Sector, which owns, operates and derives recurring income from advertising, interactive services, content sales and e-commerce on the company's proprietary IPG and eBook platforms; the Media and Services Sector, which operates the TV Guide(R) magazines, TV Guide Channel(SM), and other television media properties, as well as a media sales group that services all of the company's media platforms; and the Investments & Holdings Sector, which operates a variety of businesses including the startup Television Games Network.
The IPG is built into various devices, including televisions, VCRs and set-top boxes (cable, satellite, telco, Internet) and displays a multi-day television program guide on the television screen from which the consumer can view, select, tune to or record programs. The Gemstar eBook(TM) is a reading device, which can store tens of thousand of pages, and permits a user to purchase and receive instant delivery of any book, magazine or newspaper over a standard telephone line.
The company's media properties are used by over 100 million U.S. homes on a weekly basis. The company's products and services are available in over 60 countries worldwide.
The company's services, technology and intellectual property are licensed to major technology, media and communication companies in the consumer electronics, Internet, personal computer, satellite, cable television and telco industries.
Licensees and customers include AOL, AT&T, Cablevision, Charter, Comcast, Cox, Hughes Network Systems, Matsushita, Microsoft, Mitsubishi, Motorola, Philips, Sony, Time Warner, Thomson Multimedia, Zenith and others.
The company has more than 160 issued U.S. patents in the general area of audio-visual technologies with more than 3,900 claims, over 190 issued foreign patents, and continues to actively pursue a worldwide intellectual property program and currently has more than 300 U.S. and more than 800 foreign patent applications pending.
Except for historical information contained here, the matters discussed in this news release contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including the timely availability and acceptance of new products; the impact of competitive products and pricing; the management of growth; and the other risks detailed from time to time in the company's SEC reports, including the most recent reports on Form 10-K, 8-K and 10-Q, each as it may be amended from time to time.
Note to Editors: Gemstar, TV Guide, Gemstar eBook, GUIDE Plus+, TV Guide Interactive, VCR Plus+ and PlusCode are trademarks of Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc. Other product names used herein are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective companies |
