In the past two months, white-label OVP thePlatform has added some 20+ programming networks to its roster of clients -- a number of them formerly with Brightcove -- as the Comcast Interactive Media property continues to solidify its position at the center of cable's "TV Everywhere" push.
The company announced on its blog that it had added Fox Sports Networks, Comcast Sports Group and the Big Ten Network -- all with ties to Fox or Comcast -- as well as former Brightcove clients E!, G4, Style, and the Travel Channel. The networks will use thePlatform to help them publish video, to their own sites as well as syndicated to third-party sites, and to handle monetization policies.
“When you think that there are only a couple of hundred programmers, we think landing 20 of them is a pretty significant accomplishment,” Marty Roberts, vice president of marketing for thePlatform, told FierceOnlineVideo. “The regional sports networks provide a lot of local sports programming from high school football to college sporting events and even some national events.”
Although Roberts declined to talk about potential revenue from the deals, the real driver is a significant number of video views per month -- in the range of tens of millions -- that thePlatform will serve up with networks like the Travel Channel and E! “It’s a really nice win for us,” said Roberts.
The fact that several of the programmers formerly were with Brightcove isn’t lost on thePlatform either, and Roberts pointed to the strength of the company’s commitment to new technology and innovation as one of the reasons it’s been successful in attracting new clients.
“What we’re finding, is that a lot of these video businesses started off with a simpler system that, at the time, met their needs. As their businesses matured, they need more robust service,” he said. “We’ve always made a pretty hard-core investment in our technology, and we’ve asked ourselves whether we were over engineering our product all along the way. So, it’s a nice validation for us of the investments we’ve made so far.”
Also today, thePlatform announced it had signed a deal with Canadian cable company Rogers Communications for an online video initiative.
For more:
- see thePlatform’s blog entry
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