Samsung will be the first manufacturer to license Liquid Media Guide, the new electronic program guide from Rovi, formerly known as Macrovision.

Samsung's adoption of the Rovi guide gives the licensor of Macrovision APS, the analog-picture-polluting anti-copy scheme, a new lease on life. While Samsung hasn't announced what products Rovi will appear in, DTVs seem like a good guess, especially now that DTV makers are working overtime to get network-enabled features into their sets.

In addition, Rovi will license its TV, movie, and music data to TiVo for incorporation into DVRs and services for the cable, satellite, and broadcast industries. Clearly Rovi is playing in the big leagues and its corporate makeover is working.

See Engadget HD, InteractiveTV Today, Multichannel News, and our previous story.