Digital registry on the way for content makers

The book world has ISBN numbers to help it track how products are doing. But in the film and television worlds, things haven’t been quite so organized.

A group of studios, cable and technology companies are looking to change that, today announcing the launch of the Entertainment Identifier Registry (EIDR) to help track movies, TV shows and other assets. Among the names behind the movement are Disney, Comcast, Universal, Warner Bros., Sony and the MPAA.

There are, literally, millions of entertainment assets produced each year – and keeping up with them all has become increasingly difficult. The EIDR, which is expected to become available to members early next year, is meant to make it easier to search, track and report revenue from these assets.

That will be particularly useful for content that has the same name as something from a different studio or production house. Each asset will have a unique identifier – which backers say will cut costs and streamline operations.

Today, most companies use their own systems to catalog assets. EIDR backers hope this unified system will both ease post production and benefit end-users.

“We believe this standard will improve the flow of information among the companies we work with throughout the industry,” said Mark Hess, senior vice president of Advanced Business and Technology Development at Comcast.  “EIDR provides the much needed foundation to present consistent data that will allow customers to discover and watch video on multiple platforms.”