thePlatform Launches Solution to Enable Programmers to Offer "TV Everywhere" on their Own Web Sites

Comcast-owned white-label video management and publishing company, thePlatform, announced a new set of features, Tuesday night, which it says are designed to enable programmers to provide "TV Everywhere" capabilities on their own Web sites, while preserving their financial and content rights arrangements with TV service providers (note: the "TV Everywhere" distribution model seeks to make programming that pay-TV customers have already paid for through their cable, satellite or IPTV subscriptions available to those customers on multiple platforms, and thus aims to head off the threat posed to pay-TV services by the increasing availability of over-the-top programming; thePlatform is managing the backend for On Demand Online, Comcast's implementation of TV Everywhere, which is currently in trials and is expected to launch commercially next month). "In a world where multiple service providers offer multiple subscription packages on multiple platforms, programmers need a simple, flexible solution that helps reduce complexity and meet the expectations of their service provider partners and consumers," thePlatform CEO, Ian Blaine, said in a prepared statement. "This is a natural enhancement of a very successful business model between programmers and TV service providers. Consumers win because there will be far more online video than ever before, and both programmers and service providers win because they can extend their video to the Web in a secure manner."

According to thePlatform, most of the public discussion about TV Everywhere to date has focused on the "authentication" of subscribers--i.e. how a programmer's Web site can tell whether an individual consumer subscribes to a particular TV service provider. The company says that its new solution addresses this issue, and also adds the capability to validate and authorize playback of individual shows. In addition, it claims it supports adaptive content discovery and monetization policies to support various business policies between programmers and service providers, and offers a range of other tools to improve online viewing for consumers.

thePlatform says that the process of authentication is complicated by the fact that various different backend billing systems are used by TV service providers. Its new TV Everywhere solution therefore includes a new Authentication Adapter service that is part of the company's media publishing system (mps). According to the company, the Authentication Adapter will act as a proxy that can authenticate consumers for programmers for the numerous billing systems currently used by TV service providers. It says that the adapter will enable it to "manage the complex cross-referencing and interface required from the various companies involved."

Once a consumer has been authenticated as a subscriber, programmers need a mechanism to authorize playback of each show based on the consumer's subscription package. In order to accomplish this, thePlatform says that it maps each individual video to each service provider's channels. According to the company, by connecting the consumer to a list of approved channel ID's and each video to its channel ID, its video management system can provide the "robust and flexible" tools that are needed for TV Everywhere video playback. "Within milliseconds," the company claims, "thePlatform's system can verify alignment between the video, the TV service provider's channel line-up, and the consumer's subscription package; ensure that media rights associated with individual shows--such as airdates, geographic restrictions, and other business polices--are enforced; and re-verify that the consumer is still an active customer of the TV service provider." The company bills this approach as ensuring both that consumers can start watching their video instantly and that the business policies and financial obligations between programmers and service providers are maintained.

In its press materials announcing the launch of its new TV Everywhere solution, thePlatform observes that "programmers also need flexibility when it comes to personalizing their video Web sites for consumers based on business arrangements with TV service providers. For example," the company continues, "if a consumer visits a programmer's Web site and searches for a particular show that isn't included in their TV subscription package, service providers have a choice of what to present to the consumer. These options include: constraining the search results to only those videos the consumer is allowed to watch; providing full search results with an up-sell opportunity to subscribe to a premium subscription package; or offering a pay-per-view option for that online show, similar to today's TV video-on-demand (VOD) systems." thePlatform claims that its TV Everywhere solution serves as the source of standardized content access rules across service providers, providing programmers with the ability to support these various scenarios.

In addition, the company claims, its media publishing system provides programmers with a wide range of other online video tools, including comprehensive video management, optimized CDN policies, advertising campaign system integration, support for all major video playback technologies (including Adobe Flash, Microsoft Silverlight and Move Networks), reporting capabilities and more.

In other thePlatform news:

• The company has now officially confirmed that it is working on a broadband video initiative with Canadian cable operator, Rogers Communications (see the article published on itvt.com, October 22nd). "thePlatform is excited to confirm that they are working with Rogers, Canada's leading provider, on an online video initiative and look forward to sharing more details when they can," a company spokesperson stated in an email to [itvt]. "This means thePlatform now serves as the online video management system for most of the largest cable TV service providers in North America, including: Cablevision, Cox, Comcast, Rogers, and Time Warner Cable."
• The company says that, over the past two months, over 20 separate programming networks have tapped it to manage their broadband video initiatives. According to the company, those networks include Fox Sports Networks (it says it is powering the broadband video initiatives of "many" of the latter's regional networks), E! Entertainment Television, G4, Style, Comcast Sports Group (it says it is powering the broadband video initiatives of "several" of the latter's regional networks), Travel Channel, and Big Ten Networks. E!, G4, and Style, which--like thePlatform itself--are owned by Comcast, and Travel Channel were formerly customers of rival Brightcove. According to thePlatform, these programming networks are using it to "publish video to their own sites, syndicate video to third-party sites in many cases, utilizing thePlatform's tools to create the video players used by consumers, and relying on thePlatform to handle monetization policies across a mix of advertising, pay-per-view, and subscriptions."