• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, May 15, 2012

Tribune Media Services, which provides information about entertainment and related content to TV program guides, movie listings and other metadata-reliant applications, is partnering with Digitalsmiths, which specializes in video content discovery, to offer TMS customers new APIs that expand the range of uses for TMS metadata.

Using the new TMS-Digitalsmiths APIs, TMS customers can create applications that present TMS metadata on entertainment options --and related content including images and video -- in new formats that better serve consumers. 

For example, media companies and service providers can create online listings that allow consumers to find TV shows starring certain celebrities, see video on demand options, or find content that can be viewed on a variety of different devices.

Under the terms of the deal, TMS also has the ability to market Digitalsmiths’ Seamless Discovery platform, the software and technology package powering their new collaboration, which includes integrated search and content recommendation capabilities.

Seamless Discovery maintains a large library of frame-level metadata for movies and TV content, indexed by references to people, places, dialogue, subject matter, objects, and actions, among other filters. On the consumer side, it analyzes data about viewing habits to determine user preferences and deliver content recommendations.

It can also blend these profiles to deliver relevant recommendations to an individual, a couple, a family or a group. Seamless Discovery analyzes information from a number of social media sources to help users find the buzzed-about content of the moment.