SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 13, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rovi Corporation (Nasdaq:ROVI) today announced that RCN, a leading broadband services provider delivering all-digital and high definition video, high-speed internet and premium voice services, has renewed its multi-year agreement to license Rovi's Passport(R) Guide software, applications and television data.
In its campaign to go 100% digital in its Boston, Chicago, metro Washington, D.C., New York and Pennsylvania markets, RCN eliminated all analog programming. To receive RCN's all digital programming, a set top box is now needed.
"In the highly evolving entertainment landscape, we understand the importance of providing our customer base with the best digital television offering available," said Jason Nealis, Senior Director of Video Product and Operations for RCN. "This extends beyond the addition of HD channels and requires an advanced programming guide that can help consumers easily navigate, sort, select and record television programming."
In addition, the agreement will enable RCN to transition to Rovi television data, which provides data for more than 2.5 million programs, with that list growing daily. With more than 50 years of television data experience, Rovi's television data provides insightful program descriptions, rich media content, celebrity biographies and TV schedules to connect consumers to their favorite programs and help them discover new ones.
"Our relationship with RCN demonstrates our commitment to deliver on RCN's long-term business needs through our guidance solutions, including the Passport(R) Guide, applications and television data," said Bob Shallow, SVP of Worldwide Sales, Service Providers. "We are pleased to work with RCN as it continues to expand the capability and reach of digital television to customers in North America."
Rovi's Passport(R) Guide is a high resolution interactive application suite created to support Motorola, Cisco and other compatible set-top boxes. RCN selected Rovi to provide its customers with an advanced digital entertainment experience that includes the latest Passport(R) Guide release enhancements:
* Attractive new high resolution display graphics and fonts for Motorola DCT2500, DCT700 and other set tops boxes for an improved visual experience * Automatic tuning to an HD channel when a consumer is tuned to a standard definition channel and a high definition channel is available * The ability to recover previously deleted DVR recordings with the new Lost & Found feature * New search and discovery capabilities that make it easier for consumers to discover more about their favorite shows, actors and directors
About RCN
RCN Corporation (Nasdaq:RCNI), www.rcn.com, is a competitive broadband services provider delivering all-digital and high definition video, high-speed internet and premium voice services to residential and small-medium business customers under the brand names of RCN and RCN Business Services, respectively. In addition, through its RCN Metro Optical Networks business unit, RCN delivers fiber-based high-capacity data transport services to large commercial customers, primarily large enterprises and carriers, targeting the metropolitan central business districts in the company's geographic markets. RCN's primary service areas include Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Lehigh Valley (PA), New York City, Boston and Chicago. (RCNI-G)
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 4,000 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 www.rovicorp.com.
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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, 2009 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.