Rovi's Liquid Media Guide: A PEG for Prime-Time
Colin Dixon, Senior Partner
July 17, 2009
In 2005, I wrote a report on the evolution of the venerable TV guide; a report that forecast the imminent arrival of a new breed of electronic program guide I dubbed the Personal Entertainment Guide or PEG. This new guide would switch its orientation completely from the content to the user. Up to that point, electronic program guides focused exclusively on organizing TV channels in order to help users navigate them. Conversely, this new guide would place the user at the center of a new quantum media universe comprised of multiple content conduits and help her navigate and organize it in an easy to use format that encouraged true discovery and interactivity.
This PEG would provide three key attributes to its user:
- Omniscience – it would know the users interests, preferences, and needs.
- Omnipresence – it would be available to the user wherever she went, on whatever device she was using.
- Transparency – the user could forget about what channel, network, or device a piece of content was on and let the guide “remember” it for them.
To make this happen, the PEG would need to access and coordinate data and media from a wide variety of disparate sources. The diagram below was included in the original 2005 to illustrate this functionality.
Fast-forward to today, July 2009, and this indeed describes our modern media world. And it is this world into which Rovi (formerly Macrovision) is releasing the Liquid Media Guide.
The Liquid Media Guide will bring together broadcast TV, broadband media, and personal media into a single interface. With the pending integration of Tru2Way, the Liquid Media Guide will also incorporate on-demand and PVR content from PayTV operators. Leveraging the rich metadata that Rovi has acquired with the earlier purchases of TV Guide and AMG, searching and discovering entertainment (be it video, songs, games, or photos) will be much easier for consumers.
Although you will not be able to access all web-based media from the Liquid Guide, you will be able to access “curated” services such as Blockbuster and Slacker. As well, the Liquid Guide will allow users to tap into social sites such as Flixster, a movie-oriented social network. Via the Liquid Guide, Flixter users can see and share recommendations with their friends whether they are a Liquid Guide user or not.
Although the first iteration of the Liquid Guide is not portable, it is Rovi’s intention to make it so in the near future. As Richard Bullwinkle, Rovi’s chief evangelist, told me today, “Your content and preferences must follow you wherever you go and on whatever device you may be using.”
We expect to see the Liquid Media Guide show up in new broadband-capable TVs sometime in 2010. It should be noted, however, that it will likely face some competition. For example, TiVo is currently in talks with Best Buy to put the TiVo guide on Insignia TVs. In general, TiVo appears to be looking more like a PEG company each and every day. Although it lacks a couple of critical features such as social media support and personal portable profiles, it already incorporates broadband media, remote recording, personal media, and regular broadcast TV – all in one interface.
The world has changed a lot in the last four years. In 2005, TV Guide/Gemstar was using frequent patent suits to impede guide innovation. At that time, people told me I was crazy to believe that the TV Guide space would see any innovation in the near future. Today, I am pleased to see that Rovi is eschewing the litigious ways of Gemstar and finally bringing innovation to a product that so desperately needs it.