TMS Launches OnConnect Managed Services

- New Data Delivery APIs and Image Hosting Will Enable Innovation Among Developers Creating Advanced Entertainment UIs

CHICAGO, Nov. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- TMS, the leading provider of entertainment metadata, has just launched OnConnect Managed Services, a new "Data as a Service" platform offering a powerful set of application programming interfaces (APIs) and an image hosting service.

Offering easy access to dozens of data delivery API methods, OnConnect gives application developers reliable, flexible, and scalable delivery of the company's industry leading On® TV Entertainment metadata. TMS partner Digitalsmiths led development and will manage many of these data delivery APIs through its powerful, scalable Seamless Discovery platform.

In addition to data delivery APIs, OnConnect includes Image Cloud, an image hosting service that provides on-demand access to the TV, movie and celebrity images uniquely available from TMS. All images adhere to the TMS Image Standard and all metadata is fully synchronized with the TMS Unique ID.

OnConnect will help TMS customers innovate by shortening research and development timelines and accelerating speed-to-market for advanced, visually-rich entertainment applications. With a focus on hosted image files and efficient data queries, OnConnect has been specifically designed to support tablet and mobile applications. Developers interested in the product can access interactive documentation and request a developer's key at http://developer.tmsapi.com.

On Entertainment metadata accessible through OnConnect includes theatrical movie showtimes as well as comprehensive linear schedules, online video data and descriptive information for TV programs, movies, sports and celebrities. The data delivery APIs can be used in combination to support a wide range of use cases. Image Cloud enables customers to easily incorporate rich images into their entertainment UIs without the costly overhead of ingesting, storing and serving those images to end users.

"The industry is clearly moving toward a wider array of consumer guides, applications and UIs," said John Kelleher, TMS President and Chief Operating Officer. "OnConnect will help developers rapidly innovate by leveraging the quality and connectivity of On Entertainment data, growing loyalty and usage for their offerings along the way."

"Digitalsmiths is proud to work with our partner TMS to deliver seamless data delivery APIs to developers," said Ben Weinberger, Digitalsmiths CEO. "By making On Entertainment metadata more accessible, Digitalsmiths and TMS accelerate video innovation and experiences for today's consumers."

TMS metadata powers the world's most exciting entertainment guides which reach hundreds of millions of consumers in 40 countries through clients including Microsoft, Google, TiVo, Comcast, IMDb, Virgin Media UK, DIRECTV Latin America, SKY Brasil and Cablevision Mexico.

About TMS

TMS is an international leader in entertainment information. As part of its On® Entertainment product line the company provides industry-leading TV, movie and celebrity metadata that fuels the most exciting entertainment guides and applications on the planet. In addition, this comprehensive metadata is used extensively for media measurement and analysis. TMS also produces Zap2it, a social TV hub that connects engaged entertainment fans to popular TV shows, movies, celebrities, and other fans. For more information about TMS visit TribuneMediaServices.com.

About Digitalsmiths

Guided by the belief that consumers should not have to work to find relevant content—the content should find them—Digitalsmiths provides the industry's most comprehensive video discovery platform, offering personalized search, recommendations and browsing, social trending, mood-based discovery, and a business rules engine for all connected devices. Built for service providers, content providers and consumer electronics manufacturers, Digitalsmiths Seamless Discovery® enables personalized discovery experiences that instantly connect consumers to the most relevant movies, TV shows and live events available, at any time, on any screen. Digitalsmiths serves customers across all media channels and devices including Cisco, Warner Bros., Paramount, Technicolor, Turner Sports, Univision, the NBA, the PGA and NASCAR. Digitalsmiths is privately held and backed by .406 Ventures, Aurora Funds, Chrysalis Ventures, Cisco and Technicolor.

Media Contact:
Shannon Oborne
Vice President, Marketing
Tribune Media Services
Cell: +1-518-275-8149
Email: soborne@tribune.com