Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) has confirmed that Marty Roberts will step down as co-CEO of online video publishing unit thePlatform and that the division will be re-aligned under Matt McConnell, senior VP and GM of Comcast Wholesale.
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"In mid-2015, thePlatform aligned with Comcast Wholesale to build market-leading products to serve the worldwide video industry," said a statement released by thePlatform. "After early successes with customers it became clear that an even tighter alignment across the two organizations would allow for a more rapid expansion and optimization of the combined portfolios to meet the ever-expanding needs of customers."
Roberts had been with the Seattle-based online video company since it was acquired by Comcast in 2006. He served alongside longtime NBCUniversal executive Jamie Miller as co-CEO since May 2014, after Ian Blaine, co-founder of thePlatform, stepped down as CEO.
Miller will continue to report to McConnell as the dedicated CEO and will have full oversight of the division.
"The leadership team recognized the need to have a central point of leadership at thePlatform, and a common vision, to support a tighter alignment of the organization and build forward-thinking technology products," the statement added.
As Comcast Wholesale aggressively migrates to streaming services, thePlatform has become increasingly relevant to its long-term objectives. Until now, the division has operated rather independently within Comcast. But that role appears to be changing.
In June, thePlatform announced the launch of its Unified Ingest Service, which the company said will allow cable operators "to centrally manage all of the video and related metadata files that operators want to publish to subscribers' set-top boxes (STBs) and other IP-connected devices."
The new offering is intended to simplify the entry of content and data into cable operators' systems.
That launched was followed by the September announcement of Comcast Wholesale's Live Linear Streaming service, an end-to-end streaming solution for pay-TV operators, programmers and anybody else launching 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 thePlatform.
For more:
- read this GeekWire story
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