• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Gemstar-TV Guide Expands Its Parents' Guide to Television Franchise Across Multiple Platforms for the First Time During the Week of August 14; Special Coverage Featured in TV Guide Magazine and on TVGuide.Com, TV Guide Channel and TV Guide SPOT

Posted on: Wednesday, 9 August 2006, 09:00 CDT

Gemstar-TV Guide, International, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMST) announced today that it would expand its annual magazine franchise, Parents' Guide to Television, across its multiple media platforms with special family-focused guidance programming and program information beginning August 14, 2006. The week-long effort will highlight the leadership role that TV Guide plays, across all its platforms, in providing meaningful guidance to parents seeking programming appropriate for their children and families.

For more than a dozen years, TV Guide magazine has published a special section, Parents' Guide to Television, in an August issue of the magazine. This year that franchise is being spread across TV Guide's other platforms, giving the largest possible audience the benefit of TV Guide's editorial picks for family-appropriate programming to be featured on the broadcast and cable networks this fall. During this week of cross-platform programming, TV Guide will provide insight into the TV ratings system, information on interactive ways to manage television viewing in the household, and advice on how to use TV Guide's multiple services to find the best of what's on.

"As the leading television and video guidance company, we remain committed to providing relevant family guidance for parents seeking to find the best that television has to offer for their children," said Rich Battista, CEO, Gemstar-TV Guide. "Our company's products and services reach more than 72 million entertainment enthusiasts each week, so we are pleased that our Parents' Guide coverage will be accessible to such a large audience."

Parents' Guide to TV related editorial and coverage includes:

-- In its August 14 issue (on newsstands Thursday, August 10), TV Guide magazine will feature a special Fall Preview Parents' Guide for Kids television section, highlighting new programs and specials recommended for preschool and school-age children, tweens, and teens. TV Guide will direct readers to TVGuide.com/kidstv for more information on returning TV show favorites.

-- TVGuide.com will feature a broad scope of editorial related to the Parents' Guide topic. The site will post original editorial content each day on its Insider page during the week of August 14. Topics will include; how to make sense of TV ratings, a preview of the new season of children's television programming, and information about returning series and special episodes. Also, in September, TVGuide.com will unveil a special Family Hot List, which will be posted next to TVGuide.com's popular general-viewing television Hot List.

-- TV Guide Channel will air daily news updates devoted to children and family television guidance on its Richter Scale short program during the week of August 14. A new Richter Scale will appear each day and will air at 2:57 pm, 4:57 pm and 7:57 pm ET/PT, featuring TV Guide magazine's senior editor and family television expert, Michael Davis. In the segment, TV Guide will help demystify TV ratings, explain parental controls in interactive program guides, and recommend outstanding programming for family viewing.

-- TV Guide Channel will also continue to present its daily Family Favs viewing recommendations within its scrolling listings, serving up five (5) picks of shows with age appropriate guidance for preschoolers, schoolkids, teens, tweens and family. These TV Guide recommendations include episodic and ratings information and are customized with local channel number and start time.

-- TV Guide SPOT, a broadband and cable on-demand network, will feature family viewing picks in its show Watch This hosted by John Henson. TV Guide SPOT can be viewed at TVGuide.com, on TiVO Series II digital video recorders, and on demand on Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, Charter and Insight cable systems. Additionally, TV Guide for Broadband will offer family content to AOL subscribers with the launch of AOL's new video portal on August 22nd.

-- Gemstar-TV Guide's Interactive Programming Guides (IPGs), which are utilized by many of the nation's leading cable operators and embedded in a number of digital televisions and other digital devices, will promote the cross-platform initiatives associated with the Parents' Guide to Television week with special banners that will appear beginning August 14.

About Gemstar-TV Guide

Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc. (the "Company") (NASDAQ: GMST) is a leading media, entertainment and technology company that develops, licenses, markets and distributes technologies, products and services targeted at the television guidance and home entertainment needs of consumers worldwide. The Company's businesses include: television media and publishing properties; interactive program guide services and products; and technology and intellectual property licensing. Additional information about the Company can be found at www.gemstartvguide.com. This news release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including risks and uncertainties related to the transformation of our TV Guide magazine publishing business; timely availability and market acceptance of products and services incorporating the Company's technologies and content; our investment in new and existing businesses, including TV Guide magazine, TV Guide Spot and TV Guide Mobile; the impact of competitive products, services and pricing; ongoing and potential future litigation; and the other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including the most recent reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K, each as it may be amended from time to time. The Company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Note to Editors: Gemstar, TV Guide, TV Guide Channel and TV Guide SPOT are trademarks or registered trademarks of Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. The names of other companies, products and services used herein are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Source: Business Wire

More News in this Category