Entertainment discovery specialist Rovi has confirmed that its metadata for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games is available to customers worldwide. Part of Rovi Video data – Rovi’s extensive offering of rich information on TV programmes, movies, celebrities and sports, covering 55 countries worldwide – the  data coverage of the games features hour-by-hour event descriptions, athlete profiles, event history, unique facts, and associated multimedia content. Updated as schedule changes require, Rovi’s data includes unique identifier tags, keywords, and links throughout the data, that will help entertainment services become ‘the source’ for when and where Olympic events will be airing and enable consumers to discover, watch, schedule show recordings and enjoy coverage of their favourite teams, personalities and Olympic events.

“Our in-house team of sports editors have spent hours collecting and creating metadata for the upcoming Winter Olympic Games,” said John Moakley, executive vice president of Data Solutions at Rovi. “We’re ready for the competition to begin and, as we see star athletes and teams emerge, we will be working to capture the details of their stories as history is being made.”

Today’s multi-platform entertainment environment presents a unique challenge for entertainment services to maintain the latest information across their applications and offerings. In response, Rovi is providing its data in multiple formats and lengths that can be easily configured for use on various device types and screen sizes, enabling entertainment service providers to present a harmonious, enjoyable entertainment experience for viewers wherever they are watching.  These multi-screen services can be extended even further with official social media handles and pages, and premium images provided as a part of Rovi Video.

“In this age of borderless and untethered digital content, metadata – while often overlooked – is becoming even more critical to the entertainment experience,” added Moakley.  “Rovi’s metadata is driving the connection between people and entertainment content for hundreds of services all across the world, ranging from cable companies and consumer electronics devices to websites and social networks.”

By the time the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi broadcasts its closing ceremony, Rovi plans to have created more than 150 new international athlete profiles, more than 40 team IDs and covered over 95 different events, in ten different languages for networks more than in 20 countries. Athlete and team profiles will be updated with medal winners and other noteworthy news throughout the games. To accomplish this, Rovi plans to have a team of sports fanatics, logging more than 700 hours, watching the Olympics to cover all 17 days of competition in the 2014 Winter Olympic Games – day and night.

Rovi entertainment metadata on movies, TV programs, sports, music, books and games, comprises of more than 5 million TV programs, half a million movies, 3.2 million albums, 30 million music tracks, photos and content-related imagery. The offering is a part of, and developed to work cohesively with, Rovi’s portfolio of technologies focused on the discovery and personalisation of entertainment. This includes intuitive search, targeted recommendations, cross platform advanced advertising, and interactive program guides for navigating and discovering content on TVs, set-top boxes, tablets and PCs.

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