Quickflix and IceTV to partner in EPG

Stan Beer
Friday, 27 January 2006 08:23

IT Industry - Deals

Online home entertainment company Quickflix has sgned an agreement with IceTV to integrate its online consumer service offering with IceTV's interactive electronic program guide (EPG).

Through the IceTV EPG and a personal video recorder or PC media centre, consumers will be able to manage what they watch across free to air TV and online services such as Quickflix. In the next 12 months the partnership is expected to provide consumers with the ability to buy and rent movies via their TV screen.

IceTV is an Australian independent provider of interactive TV listings for free-to-air TV. The company's main product is the IceGuide, an EPG that shows subscribers what's on TV for the coming seven days for the digital free-to-view TV channels (7, 9, 10, ABC, SBS). In addition to the TV guide, IceTV is developing additional value-added interactive content for subscribers.

Last week Quickflix announced that it is working with Intel to move its consumer interface from the PC and mouse to the TV screen and remote control.

Quickflix CEO, Stephen Langsford, said 'we'll pull into the IceTV EPG our associations across 50,000 actors and directors and over 16,000 movies and TV series making it easy to choose what, when and how to watch at home. IceTV is one of the obvious new emerging channels through which we can distribute the Quickflix service.'

IceTV CEO, Duncan Ross, said: 'This exciting agreement with Quickflix means that IceTV subscribers will soon have the opportunity to buy or rent DVDs through their electronic program guide. We are looking forward to working closely together to enable subscribers to download movies directly to their home entertainment centres in future.'