ITV

Tag: Gemstar-TV

  • Mike McKee is Gemstar-TV Guide Consumer Electronics COO

    Mike McKee is Gemstar-TV Guide Consumer Electronics COO

    MUMBAI: Gemstar-TV Guide International has announced appointment of Mike McKee as the COO of TV Guide Consumer Electronics.

    Gemstar-TV Guide International provides information and guidance regarding television.

    McKee will oversee the day-to-day worldwide business operations for the TV Guide Consumer Electronics division. He will report to the TV Guide Consumer Electronics president Doug Macrae, say a company release.

    The division develops and markets Interactive Programme Guides (IPG) and Plus Code recording systems. These are then incorporated into consumer electronics products such as digital televisions, digital video recorders, and DVD recorders.

    Previously McKee was the president of TV Guide’s satellite businesses, including the Superstar/Netlink Group, UVTV, and SpaceCom. These were purchased by Echostar earlier this year, informs the release.

    Gemstar-TV Guide’s consumer electronics products are distributed in nearly 40 countries. The IPG is marketed as TV Guide On Screen in North America, G-Guide in Japan and Guide Plus+ in Europe. Plus Code brands include VCR Plus+, Show View, Video Plus+ and G-Code.

    McKee joined Gemstar-TV Guide in 1997 as the president of the Superstar/Netlink group.

    Macrae was quoted in the release saying, “Mike brings a strong understanding of technology and the changing television industry, as well as years of management experience. This will be invaluable as we continue maximising the potential of our consumer electronics business.

    “Given his experience in overseeing multiple business units within Gemstar-TV Guide, Mike will be able to hit the ground running. We will work closely with leading consumer electronics manufacturers to integrate our products into digital televisions and recorders worldwide.” 

  • News Corp posts $422 m first-quarter profit

    News Corp posts $422 m first-quarter profit

    NEW YORK: Things are looking up at Rupert Murodoch’s media conglomerate News Corp. The company has reported that its first-quarter profit more than doubled on strong DVD movie sales of Daredevil and Phone Booth as well as ad gains at its Fox News channel.

    The Sydney, Australia-based owner of the New York Post, 20th Century Fox studios and Gemstar-TV Guide posted a net profit of $422 million, or 32 cents per American depositary receipts, compared with $162 million, or 12 cents per ADR, a year ago.

    However Fox’s television network suffered a 20 per cent decline in prime-time ratings in the quarter. Reports indicate that the drop suggests some of the difficulty that the company faces finding successors to its recent reality television hits like American Idol and Joe Millionaire. In India the latter airs on Star World. Revenue at the television division fell to A$1.01 billion from A$1.02 billion.

    At the company’s Filmed Entertainment division, the biggest contributor to its earnings, revenue rose to A$1.25 billion from $882 million in the first quarter of the previous year, Looking ahead the company is placing its bets on the Russell Crowe starrer Master And Commander which recently opened in the US.

    However due to the disappointing performance at the television outfit its operating income, which accounts for a quarter of the company’s total, fell five per cent, to $179 million. The Fox Broadcasting Network reported an operating loss of $45 million, compared with a loss of $8 million a year earlier. This managed to offset higher profits for Star TV.

    News Corp COO Peter Chernin attributed this to the cancellation of several new shows like The Ortegas and Cedric. Reports also indicate that News Corp gets about 75 per cent of its revenues and around 80 per cent of its operating income from the US.

    Meanwhile, the newly appointed chief executive of BSkyB, James Murdoch has pledged to resume dividend payments of the company after a five-year gap. “There is a resolution at the board to discuss future dividends and that will be done,” he says.

    Murdoch also says that BSkyB’s cash flow would not be diverted to funding projects for News Corp, the media empire controlled by his father Rupert Murdoch that owns about 35 percent of BSkyB.

    Calls for a resumption of dividend payouts rose earlier this year when BSkyB reported its first annual profit in five years for the year to June, as it continued to add subscribers and grow revenue.

    Also, revenues for the Big Three broadcasters, ABC, CBS and NBC have also gone up almost six per cent in the third quarter, according to data compiled by accounting firm Ernst & Young.

  • Scientific-Atlanta, Pioneer win Gemstar suit

    Scientific-Atlanta, Pioneer win Gemstar suit

    ATLANTA: Cable set-top box maker Scientific-Atlanta announced that the US International Trade Commission has ruled in its favour in a suit by Gemstar-TV Guide International brought against it, Pioneer Corporation and related entities, EchoStar Communications and SCI Systems.

    Gemstar had sued the two companies alleging that their set-top boxes infringed on Gemstar’s patents for interactive programming guides for television. In his initial deposition Judge Luckern found that the respondents do not infringe Gemstar’s patents and that one of Gemstar’s patents was unenforceable for failure to name a co-inventor. Judge Luckern also found that Gemstar had engaged in patent misuse, a company release states.

    In its decision, the ITC determined not to review any issues regarding patent infringement or co-inventorship. By declining to review those issues, the ITC adopts the findings of the Initial Determination that S-A’s products do not infringe the patents in issue. The ITC determined to take no position on the issue of Gemstar’s patent misuse. In light of these determinations, the Commission has concluded that there is no violation of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 by Scientific-Atlanta, the release says.