Rovi

Rovi Corporation is a company based in the United States whose patents, products, and technologies include copy protection, software licensing and "search recommendation" on devices such as set-top boxes, digital video recorders, TVs, and mobile and tablet devices. Companies such as consumer electronics (CE) manufacturers, cable operators, websites, and social networks use Rovi’s entertainment metadata—a collection of in-depth information on movies, television shows, celebrities, music, games, and books—in their efforts to organize and enable the consumption of digital entertainment.

The company holds over 5,000 issued or pending patents worldwide and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

Rovi was known as Macrovision Solutions Corporation (Macrovision) until it changed its name in July 2009. In that era of the company they were known more for digital protection but now focus on metadata licensing.

History as Macrovision

Rovi was established under the name Macrovision Corporation in 1983. The 1984 film The Cotton Club was the first video to be encoded with Macrovision technology when it was released in 1985. The technology was subsequently extended to DVD players and other consumer electronic recording and playback devices such as digital cable and satellite set-top boxes, digital video recorders, and portable media players. By the end of the 1980s, most major Hollywood studios were utilizing their services.