The past few weeks have seen an odd sort of gold rush in the streaming video industry, as seemingly every media-focused B2B news and research organization has put on one or more live events, many at least partly in person for the first time in two years. 

The good news: Those many gatherings -- from august trade groups such as DEG, NATPE and OTT.X and publishers such as Future, the parent of this very news operation -- have helped everyone finally get in a (real) room together and talk about some of the things holding back the streaming video industry as it evolves into its next phase. 

Simply put, lots of people in the industry think we need to do a lot more talking, to figure out problems clogging the industry’s most basic “plumbing,” the metadata undergirding the streaming video experience, from recommending the right shows to serving the right ads. 

To use the technical term employed by many, the metadata situation sucks.  

Monica Williams, an NBCUniversal senior VP of digital products and operations, used her bully pulpit on a Questex-produced panel in Denver, and in a subsequent conversation with me, to point out that metadata program descriptions don’t use language like normal people would in searching for something to watch. 

Labeling a show a “comedy” is fine, but what kind of comedy? Is it “dark?” “Satiric?” “Raunchy?” “Teen?” Is it a standup special, or a scripted series? Shorts? Feature length? Animated? 

Basically, humans have far more sophisticated and nuanced language to describe what they want to watch than most metadata and search functions can accommodate, especially when shows are made in one place, distributed in many more and may get licensed to still other outlets, said Williams, whose job makes her function as something of a “glue” person across Comcast’s many video production and distribution operations. 

Williams’ concerns about metadata usability sparked plenty of other conversations, too. What one company deems important for describing its programming doesn’t necessarily segue nicely into each distributor’s formats, reducing the effectiveness and efficiency of both programming and advertising across the industry. 

And the platforms aren’t always so helpful either. Sinclair’s Stirr may provide highly granular data to its customers, while Roku’s far larger and more lucrative platform delivers partners a bare few lines of performance data, said a senior executive at a data-measurement company exhibiting at a Denver conference. Companies depending on that Roku reach need far more feedback on how their programs are doing. 

But what if companies paid Roku or others for access to all that beautiful data, in something like retrans fees in cable, the exec suggested. That at least would be the beginning of industry-changing negotiations. 

Elsewhere in the burgeoning ad-supported streaming sector, the problem may be too much complexity rather than too little. 

Simplifying the purchase process has become a big focus for ad-supported Future Today, whose co-founder Vikrant Mathur was on one of my panels (the Next TV Summit). After operating dozens of highly niche FAST channels for years, the company is now pushing just three: Fawesome, Happy Kids, and iFood.tv. The company also just launched a dedicated sales team, called FTI+, to shepherd legacy brands and buyers into the befuddling, many-layered universe of video streaming.   

“What we want to do is we want to simplify the message and make it easier for these people to understand,” Mathur told me. “Digital buyers are used to a landscape that's very, very fragmented. A big focus for us is to simplify. At the end of the day, (traditional buyers) want clean, family-friendly programming that is lean-back on a big screen.” 

Executives with other streaming services echoed the same kind of sales simplification approach as they welcome an influx of new ad dollars. But will the approach also reduce the power of targeted advertising, as buyers bypass big parts of the ecosystem for the sake of simplicity and brand safety? This may be a temporary issue, as buyers get more sophisticated and the ad stack consolidates middle-man operators. 

All this is happening at an awkward time for the streaming business. The Great Netflix Recalibration is changing lots of industry verities and investor expectations. 

Meanwhile, Wells Fargo analysts foresee a chilly ad market even as the industry pivots to the ad-supported side of the business. A possible recession clouds near-term prospects particularly for ad-fueled companies such as Roku, Tubi and Pluto. 

“The length and depth of the recessionary slowdown will determine whether pain makes its way to the longer cycle areas of the ad market,” Wells Fargo analysts wrote.

And then there was the hefty fact bomb dropped over the weekend by researchers at ad-buying giant GroupM and ad-measurement firm iSpot.TV, which now works with NBCU on ratings alternatives to Nielsen. 

The organizations reported that some streaming devices have what The Information gently called “a funny quirk,” though it’s a quirk that also might enrage ad buyers.

Seems millions of dongles, pucks, game consoles and other external streaming devices keep playing shows and ads even after the TV they’re attached to is turned off, the study found. For brands, that means as much as 17% of ads shown on connected devices could be playing to, um, nobody. Funny quirk indeed. 

The ghost commercials aren’t an issue with Smart TVs, like the ones from Vizio tested in the study (they’re trying LG’s platform next). WIth the streaming interface built into the TV itself, both get turned off at once. But the situation elsewhere won’t ease brand skepticism about tens of millions of streaming devices playing ads into the abyss. 

Expect lots more scrutiny on issues like these in coming months. 

As Deloitte vice chair and tech sector lead Jana Arbanas put it: “In times of abundance, there is less scrutiny when it comes to individual performance of different types of media, or different products, if you will. But in a recession, that becomes a laser focus relative to the objectives of the products and whether they are meeting them.”

The flurry of in-person industry gatherings may help begin the process of fixing these issues across the ecosystem. Plenty of people see where the streaming-video industry needs to grow up. Now it’s time to start talking. As the era of easy subscriber growth and fattening ad revenues passes into history, industry-wide cooperation and conversations on these issues will be crucial to fuel future growth. 

N.B.: More Mayhem In The Mouse House?

Last week, I wrote about the hotly contested bidding expected Sunday for media rights to Indian Premier League cricket matches over the next five years. It’s an extremely big deal in one of the world’s biggest streaming markets, and likely will have a big impact on the ability of Disney, the incumbent rights holder, to reach its stated goal of 230 million to 260 million streaming subscribers by the end of 2024. 

The IPL media rights ended up split, with streaming going to Viacom18 – a joint venture of Paramount Global, local giant Reliance Industries, and the investment firm Bodhi Tree Systems – for $2.6 billion. That price is $100 million more than Disney’s Star India unit paid for all media rights in 2017. 

This time around, Disney did retain broadcast rights, for a steep $3 billion over five years, that will feed its dozens of broadcast stations around the Subcontinent. Other international rand non-exclusive rights are still being bid out, meaning the combined payments for the 410 IPL matches each year will be well more than double those of the current deal.

For Disney CEO Bob Chapek, the imminent loss of a major content piece of its Indian streaming services represents yet another headache at a difficult time. 

Chapek punctuated the week by unexpectedly firing Peter Rice, the former Fox executive who was Disney’s top TV exec. Rice was seen as a possible Chapek replacement should Disney’s board decide not to renew the CEO’s contract before it expires in eight months. 

It is, of course, standard operating procedure in the manual of Corporate Lifeboat to throw overboard the most likely successors to your captaincy. Insiders said that had absolutely nothing to do with his dismissal. Instead, the well-liked Rice was tossed over – three years after joining Disney and months after signing a new three-year contract – because he wasn’t collaborative enough and wasn’t a “good fit.” Maybe that lifeboat was suddenly feeling a little crowded. 

For her part, Disney board chair Susan Arnold issued an unusual statement saying Chapek and “his leadership team have the support and confidence of the board.” I’m sure they do. 

Nielsen’s Gracenote unit said it launched Gracenote Streaming Channel Data, a new product that enables content aggregators to help viewers find data on ad-supported linear streaming TV channels and virtual multichannel video programming distributors.

Streaming Channels Data provides content discovery platforms with Gracenote’s database of schedules for linear channels and metadata about programs including images, descriptions and talent information.

“As consumers look for free ad-supported TV content to complement their on-demand services, easy integration and discovery options become more important than ever for aggregator platforms,” said Simon Adams, chief product officer at Gracenote. “By solving for these challenges, Gracenote Streaming Channels Data helps platform customers work towards optimizing their user experiences and securing their positions as go-to destinations for viewers.”

The new product is an addition to Gracenote’s streaming portfolio aimed at improving search and discovery of entertainment and sports programming across platforms. Gracenote said it should be particularly useful to help viewers find programming on the pop-up channels platforms set up for special occasions and react to particular events. ■

Gracenote has introduced a new offering that’s tailored for a new class of virtual MVPDs and covers and integrates data for both live TV and VOD libraries.

The new TV metadata and electronic program guide offering is targeted to smart TVs and other streaming devices, including gaming consoles, that deliver live OTT TV services, and aims to make linear and VOD content more searchable and discoverable, the company said.

Gracenote, now part of Nielsen, said it’s adding that capability as a growing mix of streaming platforms extend access to vMVPD services along their own VOD catalogs and are challenged by integrating the live TV and on-demand worlds of video.

One such example includes sitcoms and dramas that offer new episodes on live TV through OTT TV services even as back episodes are made available on network TV apps and other OTT video service providers.

Gracenote said its new offering enables streaming services to show a unified search result.

“Our newest data solution, designed for cable and satellite operators who offer virtual services as well as standalone OTT providers, bridges the best of live linear programming with on-demand libraries to make content easier to find and watch across platforms,” Simon Adams, GM of video and sports at Gracenote, said in a statement. “By empowering all players in the market to deliver outstanding user experiences, Gracenote is helping them stay ahead of shifting viewing habits and position themselves for success.”

Gracenote hasn’t announced partners that will use the new platform, but is actively working to on-board customers.

Dish Network, the company behind Sling TV, recently migrated to TiVo’s metadata platform. DirecTV, which offers an OTT service called DirecTV Now, is among Gracenote’s listed customers.

TiVo Corp. said Google is using its Music Metadata to provide select artist metadata and artist images for a set of services – YouTube Red, YouTube Music and Google Play Music.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but TiVo, which is the process of seeking out alternatives that could lead to a sale or take the company private, said the metadata will enable YouTube and Google to create a more immersive experience by connecting connect music videos to an artist’s imagery and other related songs.

RELATED: TiVo ‘Exploring All Alternatives’ to Drive Shareholder Value

TiVo noted that its Music Metadata offering covers 34 million tracks worldwide, and is refreshed daily.

This deal also comes just weeks after TiVo announced an expanded, multi-year patent license agreement with Google that includes YouTube TV, the OTT TV service launched last April.

“In addition to the incredible range of our collection, TiVo Music Metadata has a unique ability to go beyond traditional tracking, linking musical library content with other relevant artist or album info, which provides a wider span of context for the listener,” Roz Ho, TiVo’s senior vice president and general manager, consumer and metadata, said in a statement.

RELATED: How Machine Learning Is Changing the Game for Content Metadata

These are the best of times for entertainment content owners and distributors—but they are also very challenging times. There is more content—often great content—than ever before and also vastly more competition due to the rise of streaming services, as well as on-demand options.

Read More: Complete coverage of #CES2018

This presents a challenge for content owners and distributors: how to stand out from the crowd and help viewers find what they want.

Awash in all that content—not just professionally produced long-form content, but also highly viral digital-first content—viewers have a hard time wading through it all. In fact, it would take a single viewer more than 5 million years to watch the amount of video that crosses global IP networks each month, according to a recent Cisco Systems report.

That’s why it’s imperative for content owners and distributors to make it easy for viewers to search and discover their content. But to do that, they really need to know precisely what’s in their content. And to do that they need better content metadata.

Content metadata is the descriptive, image-rich programming information, such as title, actors, description, release date, running time, and genre. High-quality metadata is quite valuable because it can improve content discovery for consumers and make it easier for people to connect to the entertainment they find most informative and enjoyable at any given moment.

Discoverability is key

The rapidly evolving media landscape compels content owners and distributors to understand and define their content metadata at a much deeper and granular level than before. That’s because viewers demand quicker and easier ways to engage with content wherever and whenever they want. For distributors, this requires a new approach to creating content metadata and delivering personalized experiences for each and every viewer.

This is where machine learning comes in. Not only does machine learning help companies keep up with the tsunami of content, it can better enrich metadata and enable distributors to get the right entertainment in front of the right viewers at the right time.

Machine learning takes metadata beyond cast, title and descriptions, and enables content to be enhanced with many new data descriptors such as keywords, dynamic popularity ratings, and moods, to name a few.

The beauty of machine learning-powered metadata is that it can help surface the most relevant content in real time at just the right moment. In the old paradigm, viewers would rely solely on the most basic metadata, such as title and cast, to discover content. But with enriched metadata they can now search content by tone or trends or location—or numerous other categorizations that simply were not possible before.

Programming works better in real time

Better metadata can also help both online and traditional content distributors create more accurate and useful scheduling models. In the conventional TV programming model, networks need to know what they’re going to put on the screen weeks in advance. But that’s a limitation in today’s environment, where a programmer has no idea what may be popular two weeks from now.

Take a situation where a major YouTube star like Lilly Singh releases a new video that instantly goes viral. Most distributors can’t get that content up on their platform fast enough, so they miss out on millions of views. But machine learning can dynamically recognize that the video is trending in real-time and identify this to be served up to the distributor’s subscribers and help ensure that a service doesn’t miss out on that huge hit.

Traditional media work flows will also benefit from machine learning via the algorithmic matching of metadata to ever increasing content line-ups, enabling the content to get into distributor systems exponentially faster than what is possible via traditional methods.

Unlocking value for content creators

Content creators also face a set of new challenges, especially in a world where content is experiencing explosive growth. Now that consumers have more choices for content, one big question remains for content creators: How does their content get discovered and enjoyed? 

That content could be their current “traditional” long form content, their back catalog of content, or the new digital-first content they are creating. The challenge is that existing metadata typically only includes title, cast, and synopsis, and oftentimes the quality and accuracy of the content is lacking. The problem is even worse for back catalog content.

The value of machine learning is that it can analyze large amounts of unstructured information and determine the relevant data to map to large amounts of content, thus making that content more discoverable and viewable.

Here’s an example. A typical piece of content from a major studio typically has a limited set of metadata. But what if you could analyze information from all over the Internet to add relevant data to that content? Things like theme, tone, mood, story, trending data, cross category links, entity relationships, etc.

This is no small task. Out of the huge volume of data on the Internet, how do you determine what is relevant to the content at hand?  What’s more, data formats and structures are constantly changing such that you cannot simply write “rules” to identify what is relevant data to your content. 

That’s why machine learning is so vital. It can analyze all this unstructured data to make sense of it and then enrich metadata for the content.  As an analogy, imagine email spam. The nature of spam is continually changing, so the backend system needs to continually learn—and do so at massive scale—so that it can effectively filter out those junk emails.

Not people vs. machine, but people enhanced by machine

Machine learning certainly represents the future of metadata. But that doesn’t mean the need for human editors is going away. As content genres get more specific—such as “dysfunctional-family animated comedies” or “timeless Italian soap operas”—the need for human experts to curate this content also increases.

Think about how companies like Lyft, TaskRabbit and Postmates are able to leverage technology to bring together the workforce it needs at the location and exact time it needs, mapping workers to relevant tasks. The same principle holds true for editors of metadata. If you want your catalog of Spanish horror content to thrive, you’d prefer true aficionados of the genre editing that content, because they can do a much better job than anyone—or anything—else.

Machine learning can help find these experts at a massive scale and can also help edit their work. It has the ability to compare inputs from these editors and determine the consistency and accuracy of the data, resulting in the highest quality and most relevant metadata.  At the same time, expert human editors can fine tune the initial data from machine learning techniques to bring unparalleled quality to the content metadata. You see this dynamic today where companies like Facebook and Google are combining people with machine learning to ensure appropriate content for their respective customers.

As the volume and breadth of content continues to explode, machine learning-powered metadata will enable speed at scale. It can be used to create better, more personalized entertainment experiences for viewers, while driving critical new revenue opportunities for content creators and distributors.

--Roz Ho is senior vice president and general manager, consumer and metadata, TiVo

TiVo said Roz Ho has joined the company as senior vice president and general manager, consumer and metadata.

In that role, she will lead those teams and oversee the company’s strategic product roadmaps. Ho will be based out of  TiVo’s San Jose office and report to Pete Thompson, TiVo’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.

She joins TiVo after serving as head of product management for Ericsson TV and video products, including Mediaroom and MediaFirst.  Prior to that, Ho was with Microsoft, which sold its Mediaroom IPTV platform to Ericsson in 2013.

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TiVo and Rovi completed their merger last fall.

“As a seasoned technology veteran, Roz brings extensive experience managing engineering teams and the incubation of key product launches, making her an especially good fit for this executive position at TiVo,” Thompson said in a statement. “Her impressive corporate background, leading large global teams and driving the delivery of prized software and services will be key to this role and we’re pleased to have her on-board to further our consumer and metadata businesses.”

Rovi shares soared more than 15% Friday after the company posted Q4 results that beat analyst expectations.

Rovi, a key maker of interactive guide technology and a major supplier of metadata, pulled down  Q4 net income of $26.3 million (65 cents per share), on revenues of $149.5 million, up 11% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts were expecting earnings of 40 cents.

Rovi attributed the rise in revenue in part to catch-up payments from AT&T and Sony. Rovi posted service provider revenues of $124 million in Q4, up 18%.

On Thursday’s earnings call, Rovi CEO Tom Carson said the strong quarter was “led by licensing,” noting it had renewed its intellectual property deal with AT&T (which acquired DirecTV last year), Sky, Europe’s largest pay TV operator, and inked a new deal with Canadian operator Shaw Communications. The Shaw deal, he said, includes its new Free Range TV mobile video app, which is powered by Comcast’s X1 platform.

Rovi has also salted away a multi-year license with Charter Communications, which is in the process of acquiring Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks.

“Assuming the Time Warner Cable acquisition closes, we will have two of the big four U.S. service providers under new contracts,” Carson said.

Carson said Rovi is working to get renewals done with the other two – Comcast and Dish Network.

But it’s not counting those chickens yet. Rovi forecasted 2016 revenues of $490 million to $520 million, and earnings of $1.35 to $1.65 per share. “We are excluding any revenue associated with renewing these two deals from our estimates, including any advertising or TV Everywhere revenues from Comcast after Q1,” Carson said.

In addition to getting those renewals done, Rovi said another big focus this year involves Fan TV, the video navigation platform Rovi acquired in 2014for $12 million.

Though IP-connected Fan TV devices are no longer part of Rovi’s game plan (Time Warner Cable stopped selling those last fall), Rovi has since evolved Fan TV into a modular entertainment discovery platform for service providers and developers, offering it via APIs, apps and as an operating system for set-top boxes.

Carson said a “large European service provider agreed to use the Fan TV platform,” but won’t be saying more until after that customer announces their product and service plan that will rely on Fan TV.

Rovi said it expects to announce new deals for Fan TV, both as a full solution, and as an element that complements other discovery services during the course of the year.

Ericsson’s Broadband and Media Services unit said it has a deal to acquire FYI Television, an entertainment metadata and rich media content supplier.

Grand Prairie, Texas-based FYI Television accumulates and distributes  entertainment content and linear scheduling data from more than 9,000 TV networks each day for digital, media and analytics clients for use in connected devices such as tablets, phones, desktops, Web portals and gaming consoles.  Its database contains more than 2.8 million cast and crew related entities, and 1.5 million images directly relating to specific program titles, celebrities and stations, including logos, seasonal key art, movie posters and stills.

FYI Television has about 150 employees, who will join Ericsson’s Business Line Broadcast & Media Services when the deal closes during Q1 2016.

Ericsson said it’s poised to “create a powerful global force in content discovery” as it combines FYI Television’s U.S.-market expertise with Ericsson’s reach in Europe. The acquisition seemingly will improve Ericsson's competitive positioning with respect to metadata against companies such as Rovi and Gracenote. 

Ericsson said it opened a U.S. broadcast and media services hub in Atlanta, Ga., earlier this year, noting that it Braodcast and Media Services unit distributes more than 2.7 million hours of programming in more than 90 languages for 500-plus TV channels worldwide.

Ericsson, which offers an IPTV solution (via its acquisition of Mediaroom from Microsoft) and a newer cloud-based video offering called MediaFirst, said content discovery is a “key component” of the company’s multiscreen TV and media strategy.

"As the TV industry evolves and viewing behavior changes, we believe that high-quality, rich metadata will be a key component for a personalized TV experience,” Magnus Mandersson, EVP and head of business u nit global services at Ericsson, said in a statement. “Combined with our capabilities in TV platforms and content discovery, we will be able to help our customers to improve the video experience and identify new revenue opportunities.” 

Rovi Corp. said it has inked an extension of its existing interactive program guide license and distribution agreement and patent licensing pact with Time Warner Cable.

Financial terms and the length of the extension were not announced, but the deal comes amid Charter Communications’ proposed merger with TWC and Bright House Networks

Rovi announced it has struck a multi-year year deal with Charter in April, which came to be as Rovi looked to lock up new licensing deals with its so-called “big-four” -- Comcast, Time Warner Cable, DirecTV (now part of AT&T) and Dish Network.

“We are pleased to continue our business relationship with Time Warner Cable,” Tom Carson, Rovi’s president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Rovi shares were up 8 cents (0.81%) to $9.95 each in Monday morning trading. 

Synacor said it has struck an expanded multiyear deal with Windstream that includes the development of a next-gen customer portal and a search and discovery metadata platform for the telco’s multiscreen TV service. 

Financial terms were not disclosed, but the coming Web portal, for Windstream’s residential high-speed Internet customers, will feature a new UI and a more intuitive search and discovery platform, they said. 

“Windstream is in the business of connecting communities, and today’s digital experiences facilitate building both personal and business relationships,” Sarah Day, interim-president of consumer and small business for Windstream, which recently raised its video game by launching an IPTV service in Lincoln, Neb., that tangles with incumbent cable operator Time Warner Cable. “We’re excited to offer our customers a richer online experience powered by Synacor’s innovative solutions, accessing their latest portal technology, and enabling our customers to search, discover and view their favorite content from any device of their choosing.”

“Windstream’s expansion of our longstanding relationship is an endorsement of our newest products and the compelling experiences we help deliver to Windstream subscribers,” added Synacor CEO Himesh Bhise. 

Synacor also announced that Horry Telephone Cooperative (HTC) has picked the vendor email provider, and the launch of a native mobile iOS app for short-form video, news and links to operator customer-care features. The new app is a companion to the company’s white-label portal platform. 

The company also announced the addition of two execs -- Mike Primiani, as head of portal products, and Hardys Eggum, who will head up Synacor’s IT and technical operations.  Primiani most recently served as SVP of consumer products at Mindspark Interactive Network, a subsidiary of IAC, leading up tis advertising, gaming and shopping businesses.  Hardys was VP of media technology architecture at HBO, and is also late of Motorola.

Synacor made the string of announcements in concert with its latest financial results. The company, which specializes in customized Web portals and TV Everywhere authentication systems, posted Q2 revenues of $24.7 million, up 2% from the year-ago quarter. Search and ad revenue rose 3% to $19 million, ad revenue jumped 57% to $11.7 million, while subscriber based revenue was flat, at $5.7 million. 

Synacor also posted a net loss of $1.1 million (4 cents per share0, narrowed from a loss of $1.9 million (7 cents per share) in the year-ago quarter. It ended the quarter with $27.1 million in cash and cash equivalents, up from $26.8 million. 

It’s expecting Q3 revenues of $23.0 million to $24.0 million, and full-year 2015 revenues of $97.0 million to $102.0 million.

thePlatform, the Comcast-owned online video publishing firm, aims to simplify the world of multiscreen VOD with a service that unifies the management of how video and its associated metadata is ingested and managed for a wide range of device types. 

Looking to breakdown silos that have traditionally hindered such efforts, thePlatform claims that its new cloud-based Unified Ingest Service can handle the job across devices – from older set-tops that use QAM/MPEG-2 transport to newer IP-capable tablets, smartphones, gaming consoles and streaming players.

Typically, a pay TV operator’s ingest systems manage linear, VOD and online video and the associated metadata via distinct systems. VOD content, for example, usually has its own metadata package with its own descriptions and box art, as does OTT.

The goal now, said thePlatform co-CEO Marty Roberts, is to stitch all of that together under one standard specification, noting that companies such as Netflix and Amazon already standardize around one high quality mezzanine video file that can be used to deliver to a variety of devices, bit rates and resolutions.

“The [pay TV] operators are coming around to that same idea,” he said, noting that “job number one” is to clean up that ingest process with the video files themselves.

This process also involves a similar alignment of metadata  from sources such as Rovi, Gracenote and Red Bee, among others. Additionally, thePlatform's new service can be made to default to metadata used for OTT video, which is usually optimized for online discovery. thePlatform, Roberts explained, can then set up rules to rationalize the metadata for one centralized “store” that can talk to legacy set-tops as well as new IP-connected devices.

He said thePlatform co-developed this Unified Ingest Service with an unnamed customer and is in the process of deploying it with multiple clients. In addition to Comcast, some of the vendor’s known partners include Liberty Global, Cox Communications, Rogers Communications, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision Systems.

It will compete with content management systems from suppliers such as Ericsson, Cisco Systems and, to a degree, SeaChange International.

Roberts said the new ingest offering, sold under a software-as-a-service model, is primarily targeted to pay TV operators as they face off with how to scale up and simplify their workflow as they supply live programming to a greater number of device types and as VOD libraries continue to expand  -- some contain about 250,000 choices, but could have about 1 million titles moving in and out of window at any given time.

thePlatform is pitching the new offering as part of its flagship publishing platform, mpx, or as a standalone service.

“Right now, the act of collecting video and metadata is a real mess,” Roberts said in a statement. “We’ve invested in our Unified Ingest System to help operators tackle this issue and create a new foundation for innovation. In fact, we already provide this kind of functionality to support more than 20 million pay TV subscribers across STBs and other devices. So, we decided to productize it, and make it generally available to the broader cable, telco, and satellite TV provider community, starting today.”  

Rovi said Kathy Weidman has joined the interactive programming guide and video navigation company as senior vice president and general manager, metadata.

In that role, will lead the metadata business group, overseeing product management, engineering and data operations. She reports to John Burke, Rovi’s EVP and COO, and will be based out of the corporate offices in Radnor, Pa.

“Kathy’s industry background coupled with her leadership roles are a powerful combination as we continue rapid expansion of our metadata business,” said Burke, a former Motorola and Arris exec who joined Rovi in March. “Kathy’s extensive experience and deep knowledge of the media industry and its technologies will help further drive our innovation in products and solutions for our customers.”

Weidman most recently was an executive consultant at MoonBeam Partners Limited,  and is also late of Red Bee Media Limited, a U.K.-based media services unit acquired by Ericsson in May  that counts clients such as BBC, Canal Plus, Discovery, Google, ITV, Liberty Global, Microsoft, Samsung, UKTV, TV4 and Virgin Media.

She is joining Rovi amid a metadata market that is growing more heated and competitive. Of recent note, Rovi rival Gracenote has been on an M&A tear, having most recently put up $19 million for  HWW, an Australia-based provider of TV and movie data to a range of pay-TV operators.