AOL, TV Guide Plug Into Listings, Content Agreement

American electronic media giants AOL (NYSE: AOL) and TV Guide Online announced an agreement Wednesday that will bring TV Guide’s listings and content into AOL’s network. The financial terms of the pact were not disclosed.

Under the agreement, TV Guide Online will become the premier provider of television listings and content across four AOL brands – CompuServe, AOL, Netscape Netcenter and AOL.COM. TV Guide Online will also contribute daily chats with television stars and personalities to AOL Live and provide localized television listings to Digital City, AOL’s local content network.

The Dulles, Virginia-based AOL and the Tulsa, Oklahoma-based TV Guide (Nasdaq: TVGIA) will also pursue joint interactive advertising and e-commerce opportunities through a series of co-branded Web sites scheduled for each of the AOL brands.

“We are very excited about this new robust business relationship with AOL given their tremendous reach on the Internet,” said TV Guide President Peter Boylan. “TV Guide Online has unlimited potential to unlock new revenue streams with interactive advertising and electronic commerce and this new partnership with AOL will further strengthen our position on the Web.”

Reach Out and Touch

The deal offers wide exposure for both parties. There are 20 million registered members of AOL and CompuServe, and millions more look at one AOL property or another. TV Guide’s flagship publication is read by 34 million people a week, while its Cable Guide, TV Guide Channel, Sneak Prevue and other properties reach millions more. Its products are marketed in 44 countries across the globe.

AOL Inks Another Deal

In addition to the TV Guide deal, AOL also announced a sponsorship and marketing agreement with Owners.com, a self-directed real estate market broker.

The agreement calls for Owners.com — which has helped homeowners in 50 states sell 250,000 homes online and avoid paying hefty real estate broker fees — to sponsor the Private Home Sales section of AOL’s Classified Plus Directory. It also calls for cross-promotion and co-branded sites.

Founded in 1995, San Francisco, California-based Owners.com claims to have helped sell over $30 billion worth of homes since its inception. It has similar agreements with Yahoo!, E*Trade, E-Loan, RealEstate.com and others.