Yahoo! and Gemstar Get Cozy

Before you reach for that remote control, you may want to turn to Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) to see what's on. The popular online portal has inked a license agreement with Gemstar-TV Guide (Nasdaq: GMST) to offer interactive program guides without trampling on TV Guide's patents.

It's a good deal for both parties. Yahoo! TV is already a popular site for small-screen junkies. The deal with Gemstar will make it a more complete online destination, while TV Guide gets to further its brand in cyberspace.

TV Guide can use the boost. This week, it relaunched its TVGuide.com site, which still pitches the weekly print publication but also concedes the obvious: Folks online don't want last week's articles, and their broadband connections relish multimedia clips and other goodies.

TVGuide.com is gearing up to become a sticky community site as well, probably not too different from what CNET Networks (Nasdaq: CNET) has achieved with TV.com.

Gemstar seems to realize that the future of the small screen may come down to the even smaller screen: your monitor. It acquired the popular JumpTheShark.com site back in June, after revamping its print publication last summer.

TV Guide survived the onslaught of free TV-listing publications and local papers that included viewing guides in their Sunday editions. The Internet is a much stronger foe, however, and it's good to see Gemstar not only sleep with the enemy, but also cash in on the revolution.

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Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz has been on TV a few times over the years, but don't look for him on the primetime fall lineup. He does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article. Rick is a member of the Rule Breakers analytical team, seeking out the next great growth stock early in its stage of defiance. The Motley Fool is investors writing for investors .