• by Erik Sass , November 13, 2007

Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc. has signed syndication agreements with a number of new partners, including entertainment industry trade magazine Variety, published by Reed Elsevier PLC, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Variety will be able to import Gemstar-TV Guide's interactive program listing service to its Web site, and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer will display editorial content from TV Guide on the "front page" of its Web site. The Star Tribune will be able to use TV Guide's content in both its print edition and online.

These deals are just the latest in a series of brand extensions launched by Gemstar-TV Guide as part of a long-term recovery strategy. After ad pages at the digest-style magazine plummeted earlier this decade, the company implemented a new online-focused strategy that seeks to build new revenue bases through Internet businesses. Syndication agreements are a key element of this strategy.

Rich Cusick, Gemstar-TV Guide's senior vice president and general manager of digital media, remarked: "These syndication agreements give us the opportunity to broaden the reach of our TV Guide brand across multiple platforms, while allowing our partners to offer relevant content and information to their customers."