In what the two parties described as a "first-of-a-kind agreement," the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) has cut a licensing deal with Rovi for its digital terminal adapter (DTA) guide, effectively giving all-digital customers more features for secondary televisions.
According to terms of the deal, NCTC members--generally small-to-medium cable operators--will be able to license the Rovi technology to deploy the guides on SD and HD DTA devices used to move cable subscribers to digital reception for secondary TV sets. Incorporating Rovi DTA guide software into the small boxes provides navigation, channel tuning, parental controls and multiple language options for both the guide and audio.
"The cable industry is eager to complete their transition to an all-digital footprint (and) we're heralding this change with additional capabilities across all of our devices--even on the basic DTA," Corey McCarthy, senior vice president of business development and CFO of the Kansas-based buying cooperative said in a press release. "Our agreement with Rovi will offer our members the ability to bring a navigation experience and show added value as they switch over their subscriber base to digital services."
The Rovi guide "is an important component of (TV viewers') entertainment experience," Bob Shallow, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Rovi added.
For more:
- see this press release
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