Tribune Media Services and Digitalsmiths Announce a Strategic Alliance to Bring API Platform to the Digital Entertainment Market

CHICAGO and DURHAM, N.C., May 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Tribune Media Services (TMS), a leading provider of entertainment metadata, and Digitalsmiths, the leader in video content discovery, today announced that the two companies are releasing a robust new set of data-delivery APIs enabling TMS customers to leverage TMS metadata in exciting new ways.  Built on Digitalsmiths' Seamless Discovery™ platform that handles more than one billion API transactions per month, the new APIs will facilitate the development of enhanced content discovery and viewing experiences.

Through this new relationship, TMS' industry-leading metadata for TV shows, movies and celebrities will be made available through an intuitive application-programming interface (API) that significantly reduces the engineering and training requirements for developers.  As a result, customers can quickly innovate and test new consumer applications that meet the changing behaviors of today's entertainment fans.  The first release of these APIs will be designed to support consumer experiences such as searching for celebrities on TV or discovering new episodes of favorite shows, and will soon to be followed by additional product updates.

"Consumers increasingly expect to discover and enjoy entertainment content on their own terms," said John Kelleher, President and Chief Operating Officer of TMS.  "Because our data is a critical fuel for many of the new connected devices, applications and experiences proliferating in the market, that data must also be easily connected and accessible.  Digitalsmiths' proven leadership in content discovery allows us to work closely with a trusted provider, accelerate our time-to-market, and deliver a truly superior development toolset for our customers." 

"We are very pleased to strengthen our long relationship with TMS," said Ben Weinberger, Chief Executive Officer of Digitalsmiths.  "These new solutions provide a seamless combination of rich entertainment metadata and intelligent delivery technologies to drive the accelerated development of enhanced discovery experiences."

Under the expanded relationship, TMS will also have the ability to market Digitalsmiths' Seamless Discovery platform.  Seamless Discovery is a robust set of content-discovery technologies that includes integrated search, recommendations and a business-rules engine powered by a data framework that includes the world's largest collection of frame-level metadata for Movies and TV.

Service providers, content providers and consumer electronics manufacturers can use Seamless Discovery to develop entertainment applications that allow consumers to instantly discover the most relevant, personalized content anytime, anywhere, on any device.  TMS metadata is integrated within Seamless Discovery and available for mutual customers.  Seamless Discovery will also be used to enhance personalized user experiences on TMS' consumer-facing website Zap2it.com.

Representatives from Tribune Media Services and Digitalsmiths will jointly attend The Cable Show from May 21 – 23, 2012 in Boston, MA. Conference attendees can schedule meetings in advance to ask questions and learn more about TMS/Digitalsmiths API development plans.

About Digitalsmiths

The technology leader in video search and recommendation for interactive TV, Digitalsmiths offers solutions that greatly improve the accuracy and ease with which end-users find relevant, personalized entertainment across multiple channels and devices, including second screens such as smart phones and tablets. These solutions serve customers that span all media channels and devices and reach a combined audience of millions of consumers. Customers include Warner Bros, Paramount, Technicolor, Turner, the NBA, the PGA, and NASCAR.

About Tribune Media Services

Tribune Media Services Entertainment Products is an international leader in entertainment navigation.  The company provides industry-leading TV, movie and celebrity metadata as well as entertainment guides in on-screen, online, mobile and print formats. TMS also produces Zap2it and CastTV, web sites that connect engaged entertainment fans to popular TV shows, movies, celebrities and other fans. For more information about TMS Entertainment Products visit TribuneMediaServices.com.

SOURCE Tribune Media Services; Digitalsmiths