OVERVIEW

Gemstar-TV Guide, through its various subsidiaries, has a long and successful history in the European market. The Company began to operate in Europe in 1991 when it launched its patented VCR recording technology, the ShowView® System (known as the “VIDEO Plus+®” System in the UK).

This instant recording technology, has become the de facto industry standard and is built directly into virtually all recording devices such as VCRs and DVDRs. It simplifies the process of taping television programmes through the use of unique PlusCode® numbers associated with each TV show. The PlusCode numbers are published in the TV listings sections of most of Europe’s leading newspapers and magazines.

The Company continues its technology development and licensing activities with a focus on improving the consumer’s ability to navigate a multi-channel universe via its interactive program guide technology. After a successful debut in the U.S. in the mid-1990s, Gemstar-TV Guide’s electronic program guide activities are now being rolled out in Europe.

The Company offers consumer electronics manufacturers, cable operators and satellite service providers a wide range of services and technologies in the field of interactive program guides. These guides, operated via the viewer’s TV screen, include patented and patent-pending technologies and user-interfaces that allow viewers to check what is on TV by day, hour, channel, and theme. The sorting and recording features found in the Company’s guides put the viewer in control of his television viewing, allowing him to watch what he wants when he wants. Gemstar-TV Guide Europe’s mission is to offer consumers, service providers and CE manufacturers user-friendly, cost-efficient EPG solutions that are adaptable to a wide range of business requirements. Gemstar’s EPG service is currently available in Germany, France, UK, Spain, Austria, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg.

In the television data solutions sector, Infomedia S.A., a wholly owned subsidiary, also began serving the European market in the 1990s. Infomedia is the only pan-European company offering TV listings program information and data services on over 500 channels in 16 different languages to print publications, electronic program guides, TV channel broadcasters, and market monitoring and intellectual property tracking services.