Comcast announced today that it will combine its Comcast Wholesale, thePlatform and This Technology units to form a new division under Comcast Cable called Comcast Technology Solutions.
The newly merged division will be led by Denver-based Comcast Wholesale chief Matt McConnell, who will now operate under the title of senior VP, president and general manager of Comcast Technology Solutions.
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Comcast simultaneously announced that it will support technology for Time Inc. in its upcoming launch of platforms themed around print brands People and Entertainment Weekly.
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“By bringing our technologies together, we provide the greatest breadth and depth of media distribution, management and monetization solutions in the industry,” said McConnell, in a statement. “We are thrilled to bring this expertise to People/Entertainment Weekly Network, which delivers an extraordinary entertainment experience for every screen.”
Comcast has been steadily building to the merger of these assets for over a year.
Following Comcast's decision in October to put management of its online publishing arm thePlatform under the control of its media services house, Comcast Wholesale, the two groups used the NAB show to announce a new joint effort called theVideoPlatform — a tool intended to unify broadcast and online video technologies, offering a solution for video management, publication, distribution and monetization.
Also in the fall of 2015, Comcast Wholesale launched its Live Linear Streaming service as an end-to-end streaming solution for pay-TV operators, programmers and anybody else deploying OTT services. Services include content ingest, encoding and packaging, playback, and delivery via the Comcast content delivery network (CDN) or the client's CDN. Also included is the mpx video management system from Comcast's advertising arm, thePlatform.
In April of 2015, Comcast acquired This Technology, which specializes in dynamic ad insertion and scaled IP video back-office systems.
Last month, Time Inc., still the biggest magazine publisher in the U.S., launched the People/Entertainment Weekly Network (PEN), delivering free-to-view, ad-supported streaming of original series and documentaries.
The well-backed channel launched with ample distribution in place via Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Google Chromecast and Comcast’s Xfinity TV, among other partnerships. The platform is also available via Roku, Apple iOS and Android.