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Limelight Video Platform Introduces Spring '11 Release
Limelight Video Platform (LVP) is announcing its Spring 2011 release this morning, adding new features that leverage the underlying Limelight
computing platform. LVP is the new name of the updated product from Delve Networks, which Limelight acquired about 8 months ago. Yesterday I caught up with Alex Castro, VP/GM of LVP to learn more.
There are 4 new features LVP is introducing:
Categories: Technology
Topics: Limelight Networks
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Innovid Launches iRoll Apps For Easy Interactive Pre-Roll Ads
Innovid is introducing "iRoll apps" this morning to allow easy creation and deployment of interactive pre-roll ads. In addition to popular engagement features like Facebook sharing, Twitter following, YouTube posting and custom text labels, iRoll apps also allows a range of additional apps (now or coming soon) like coupon downloads, store locator with Google Maps, ticket purchase, chat, related docs and more. Last week I got an in-person demo from Zvika Netter, Innovid's CEO and co-founder and Rob Banning, director of marketing.
With iRoll apps, Innovid is looking to jumpstart a world where all pre-roll ads include interactivity. As Zvika explained, Innovid sees the pre-roll ad itself becoming browser-like, with all interactivity built right into the video window. This kind of seamless experience means that when users click within the ad, new content and options are loaded in the window itself, rather than having new browser windows pop up, which often leads to delays and a process of getting oriented, not to mention leaving the ad behind.
Categories: Advertising, Technology
Topics: Innovid, iRoll Apps
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Thomson Reuters Ramps Up Video With Innovative "Multimedia Centre"
Video is not only hugely popular with consumers, it's also fast becoming critical for enterprises in both their internal and external communications. That's the message behind Thomson Reuters' innovative new "Multimedia Centre" online video platform (OVP), which was quietly launched a couple of weeks ago. Thomson Reuters global head of multimedia solutions Shaun McIver and Multimedia Centre product lead David Gascoine walked me through the company's strategy and demo'd the product for me last week.
The background here is that Thomson Reuters has become the world's largest webcast provider, powering over 20K for its clients per year. That experience has given it a unique perspective on enterprises' evolving communications needs. Multimedia Centre recognizes that the next level of communicating with audiences involves both video and improved tools for self-publishing. Just like with other OVPs, with Multimedia Centre users are able to easily upload their videos, sort them into playlists, add tags, create players, publish these to web sites complete with embed codes, share them to social media sites and more.
Categories: Enterprises, Technology
Topics: Thomson Reuters
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YuMe Relevance Engine Introduced for Improved Video Ad Buying
Video ad technology and network YuMe is taking the wraps off its new "YuMe Relevance Engine" this morning, representing another key step forward in realizing online video's potential for ad targeting. The Relevance Engine powers the new 3.0 version of YuMe's ACE for Publishers ad system. Last week, YuMe's Jayant Kadambi, president and co-founder and Ed Haslam, SVP, Marketing briefed me on how they work.
With the Relevance Engine, YuMe is helping empower publishers to attract TV ad dollars by addressing each piece of the relevance equation: advertisers' needs, the publisher context and the target consumer audience. Advertisers' needs include things like brand safety, targeted devices, reach goals, and context/audience targeting. On the publisher side, criteria include page and video content awareness (based on metadata ingestion), eCPMs, viewing environment (such as which OVP player is used), device and connection speed. Finally, for the consumer profile, this includes demographics, ad viewing history, preferences, targeting data and content interests (based on cookies).
Categories: Advertising, Technology
Topics: YuMe
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Adobe Pass Boosts Cable Networks' TV Everywhere Role
Adobe is announcing a new service this morning called Adobe Pass, which is intended to streamline how pay-TV subscribers gain access to authenticated premium content online. While Adobe Pass offers a key benefit to users in the ability to have "single sign-on" across multiple devices and web sites, a more critical upside is that with Adobe Pass, cable networks gain far greater control over their relationships with viewers as TV Everywhere efforts ramp up. In this respect Adobe Pass is a potentially significant building block in helping make TV Everywhere a reality. Todd Greenbaum, senior product manager at Adobe, briefed me earlier this week.
First, from a technical perspective, Adobe Pass looks like a pretty elegant solution that positions it well to be the glue that hold TV Everywhere authentication together. The idea is that when a user visits a content provider's web site they'll still see freely available content, but they'll now also see some that is for paying subscribers only (see TNT example below). If the site has added the Adobe Pass software, then when the user clicks on the authenticated content, a selection of pay-TV operators who have integrated the Adobe Pass API will appear (currently Comcast, Cox, DISH and Verizon are all on board). The user selects their pay-TV provider and is then asked for the user name and password they use with their pay-TV operator.
Categories: Cable Networks, Cable TV Operators, Technology
Topics: Adobe, Time Warner Cable
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Could HBO be the Next BLOCKBUSTER?
Last week, amid rumors that Netflix was planning to bid for the new "House of Cards" TV series, directed by David Fincher (a deal finally confirmed late Friday afternoon), there was no shortage of media coverage asking, "Could
Netflix be the next HBO?" As interesting a question as that one is, here's one that's even more intriguing, and provocative: "Could HBO be the next BLOCKBUSTER?" At first blush, the comparison might seem ridiculous, and admittedly there are numerous differences between the two. But there are some troubling similarities which should be causing the HBO executive team to now be on high alert.
Categories: Aggregators, Cable Networks, Technology
Topics: HBO, Netflix, Time Warner
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CBSSports.com College Network To Mine Value of Universities' Sports Video Archives
Sports continues its role as a leading online video innovator, as this morning CBSSports.com College Network, a division of CBS Interactive, is announcing an initiative to enable its 175 university partners to mine the value of their
extensive sports video libraries, in a new partnership with technology provider Thought Equity Motion. Last week Rob Schupler, CBSSports.com College Network's SVP of University Relations and Dan Weiner, VP of Marketing and Products at Thought Equity Motion briefed me on their plans.
Rob explained that CBSSports.com College Network has a broad mandate with its university partners - to create their web sites, manage content, help build their fan bases, protect their brands and monetize through different business models. A key area of fan interest has been audio and video content, which is often available through premium subscriptions. However, when it comes to archived video content, the sites have mainly only offered a tiny fraction of what's in their vaults, usually just highlights from the past season. Rob said that the traditionally manual process of producers accessing archived content made providing a richer assortment operationally and economically unviable.
Categories: Sports, Technology
Topics: CBSSports.com College Network, Thought Equity Motion
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Two New NDS Products Aim To Turbocharge Content and Apps for Pay-TV Operators
Pay-TV technology provider NDS is introducing two products this morning that aim to turbocharge new content and applications offerings from pay-TV
operators. The moves are further evidence of how the line between traditional TV and over-the-top content/apps continues to blur. Last week, NDS's SVP of Advanced Products and Markets Yoni Hashkes and VP/Chief Marketing Officer Nigel Smith walked me through the two new NDS products.
The first, dubbed "Infinite TV Exchange" creates a marketplace for content creators/curators to interact with pay-TV operators who want to add specialized channels to their linear and VOD line-up. With Infinite TV Exchange, professional content providers can upload individual videos, which either they, or third-parties, can then curate into cohesive, branded programming packages or "channels." NDS has initial commitments from National Geographic, Revision 3, SPEED channel, Watch Mojo, Red Bull Media and others, totaling up to about 100,000 hours of content to be uploaded to the market.
Categories: Cable TV Operators, Technology
Topics: NDS
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Playwire Introduces Low-Cost Online Video Platform
Just when you thought the online video platform space was finally entering a consolidation phase, today a new OVP called Playwire Video is launching.
Playwire is backed by Intergi Entertainment, a gaming content provider/ad network. Jayson Dubin, president of both Playwire and Intergi recently briefed me on today's video launch.
Despite the range of current video options, Jayson recounted that his personal experience in trying to select a video platform left him feeling there were still significant technical/operational challenges for small-to-mid-size users and also inflexible pricing terms. Jayson thinks of YouTube as an easy on-ramp, but one that didn't offer great direct monetization options. On the other end he said more robust solutions still felt pretty techie to him, and with their pricing terms, hard to actually make money from.
Categories: Technology
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Clearleap Integrates With Pace for Broadband VOD Delivery
Clearleap, a web-based TV technology platform, is integrating with set-top box maker Pace to enable pay-TV operators to manage and deliver VOD through broadband, alongside traditionally delivered linear channels. By
shifting VOD to a web-based model, pay-TV operators are able to lower the cost and complexity of on-demand, while opening up far more content choices to consumers in a friendlier UI. In addition, broadband VOD allows pay-TV operators to align their VOD libraries and interactive elements between the TV and other connected and mobile devices where video is increasingly available.
Categories: Devices, Technology
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Irdeto Launches Active Cloak for Media With Dynamic Security Approach
Software security firm Irdeto is launching Active Cloak for Media this morning, a dynamic security service intended to protect premium content across the ever-growing universe of connected devices. I had breakfast with Daniel Thunberg, Irdeto's VP of Marketing, who was in from Beijing last week, to learn more.
Irdeto has had a strong position in DRM with its core Cloakware DRM
technology embedded in online video services and devices from Comcast, Netflix, Adobe, Sony, and Logitech among others. But Irdeto has recognized that DRM itself is often the subject of hackers' attacks and when they succeed piracy runs rampant. Worse, it's often not apparent to the content owner or distributor where the breach is. The result is a world where content owners often have little idea where their most valuable assets are being viewed.
With that problem in mind, Daniel explained that Active Cloak for Media takes a services-oriented approach, deploying a set of server modules and media agents on connected devices which constantly communicate with each other to watch for illicit activity. When detected, the agents renew their security credentials to keep content safe. Active Cloak for Media's "lifecycle" security model means that once content is digitally distributed, content owners and/or distributors have a far better view of where security issues exist and what proactive measures should be taken.
Categories: Devices, Technology
Topics: Irdeto
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VideoNuze Report Podcast #89 - Feb. 25, 2011
I'm pleased to present the 89th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for February 25, 2011.
In this week's podcast, Harold Geller, the SVP of Cross-Industry Workflow at the 4As (American Association of Advertising Agencies) joins me, sitting in for Daisy Whitney. Harold and I discuss the busy week online video platforms have had, including Ooyala's deal with Yahoo! Japan, thePlatform's with Telstra's BigPond TV, Brightcove's integration with LG's Smart TVs, and VBrick's acquisition of Fliqz.
One of the takeaways we see from this activity is that online video platforms and video delivery to connected TVs (and other devices) are starting to converge. Harold also notes a couple of recent conversations he's had which further suggest that OVPs and online video advertising players will be playing a greater role in ad insertion in video-on-demand offered by traditional pay-TV operators. That would be a pretty interesting new twist in the VOD story. More on this next week.
Click here to listen to the podcast (14 minutes, 55 seconds)
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Categories: Podcasts, Technology
Topics: BigPond TV, Brightcove, Fliqz, LG, Ooyala, Telstra, thePlatform, VBrick, Yahoo! Japan
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thePlatform Powering Telstra's BigPond TV Multi-Screen Rollout
In another sign of how online video platforms (OVPs) are expanding the scope of their management and publishing services, this morning thePlatform is announcing a multi-year deal to power the big Australian telco Telstra's multi-screen BigPond TV service for TVs, set-top boxes and the web. The
announcement follows news earlier this week that Ooyala will be supporting Yahoo! Japan's multi-screen video efforts and that Brightcove has integrated with LG connected Smart TVs for direct publishing. Marty Roberts, thePlatform's VP of Sales and Marketing caught me up on the BigPond details yesterday.
The central component of BigPond TV, which Telstra announced last June, is what the company calls the "T-Box," a hybrid IP set-top box from Netgem that handles both linear channels and on-demand video. Telstra is promoting the T-Box in its bundles and it is meant to replace traditional set-tops over time. Importantly, Telstra doesn't impose any consumption caps for online video viewing via the Telstra broadband ISP. In addition to the T-Box, Telstra is also delivering the full BigPond TV service to connected TV and Blu-ray players from LG and Samsung. Telstra's goal is to have content selection on the T-Box, connected devices and online be completely synched up. For now mobile options, like an iPad or Android app aren't available, but they'll be coming soon.
Categories: Devices, International, Technology, Telcos
Topics: Alcatel-Lucent, BigPond TV, Cisco, Netgem, SeaChange, Telstra, thePlatform
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Brightcove Integrates With LG Electronics Smart TVs
Brightcove is announcing a partnership this morning with LG Electronics that will allow its publishing customers to deliver content directly to LG NetCast Smart
TVs. The deal continues the trend around delivering high-quality video content to connected devices, which is becoming a significant differentiator for consumer electronics companies.
As part of the partnership, Brightcove said it will release a set of tools and support services later this year, including a reference app that will serve as a starting point for customers to deliver content to LG Smart TVs. Initiatives like these, which continue to legitimize connected TVs as a bona fide online video viewing platform, are a boon to consumers who are able to access a broader range of content directly on their TVs than what has traditionally been offered by their pay-TV provider.
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required).Categories: Devices, Technology
Topics: Brightcove, LG
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Ooyala Lands Yahoo! Japan In Big Customer Win
Online video platform Ooyala is announcing this morning a big customer win, with Yahoo! Japan. Under the multi-year deal, Yahoo! Japan will standardize on Ooyala across all of its hundreds of sites and will also sell and support the platform to its ecosystem and to the broader Japanese Internet market. Yahoo! Japan is majority-owned by Softbank and is affiliated with Yahoo!.
The deal is significant to Ooyala because of the size of the Japanese Internet market and the fact that Yahoo! Japan, with 80 million monthly unique visitors, is the dominant player. Ooyala's CEO Jay Fulcher brought me up to speed on the deal last week.
Though there wasn't a formal RFP, Jay said that Yahoo! Japan stress-tested the Ooyala platform with millions of streams. Jay believes that while robust content management and publishing capabilities are now table stakes in big deals like these, it was Ooyala's analytics and monetization tools that were the differentiators. Yahoo! Japan is looking to take insight around consumer behavior and use it to drive monetization strategy across PCs, mobile devices and connected TVs.
Categories: International, Technology
Topics: Ooyala, Yahoo! Japan
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Kaltura Raises $20 Million, Now Serving 100K+ Publishers
Open source online video platform Kaltura is announcing this morning that it has raised a $20 million round, led by Nexus Venture Partners, including Intel Capital and existing investors .406 Ventures and Avalon Ventures. It's not clear what funding to date is since Kaltura didn't disclose the size of its
last round. Kaltura also announced it is now serving over 100K publishers, which it believes is more than all of the other proprietary OVPs combined.
Kaltura CEO Ron Yekutiel has emphasized Kaltura's open source approach from the company's inception. In my interactions with him, he has likened Kaltura to doing for video what RedHat did for operating systems and MySQL did for databases, with each driving open source success. Since Intel Capital and Nexus have both been involved with these two companies, and Nexus' Narun Gupta, who's on RedHat's board will now join Kaltura's board, Kaltura's positioning gains additional credibility with the new financing.
Categories: Deals & Financings, Technology
Topics: Intel Capital, Kaltura, Nexus Venture Partners
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RAMP Exceeds 1 Billion Time-Coded Tags For Video/Audio
RAMP is announcing this morning that it has processed 20 million minutes of video and audio for premium content publishers, to create over 1 billion time-coded "tags." The milestones reflect steady increases over the last 3 years (see chart below). Tags are descriptive metadata which are essential to video being discovered, shared and optimally monetized. Last week I spoke to RAMP's CEO Tom Wilde who gave me additional insight on how the company is doing and its place in the online video ecosystem.
Categories: Technology
Topics: RAMP
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Exclusive: FreeWheel Launches "RPM" Product To Streamline Video's Back Office
FreeWheel, the video technology company, is launching its second product today, "RPM" - Revenue & Payments Management - to streamline the complex back office financial processes associated with distributing premium-quality online video. Last week FreeWheel's co-CEOs and co-founders Jon Heller and Doug Knopper walked me through RPM and how it relates to the company's flagship Monetization Rights Management ("MRM") product.
At a high level, RPM's goal is to help media companies make sure that everyone who's supposed to get paid when online video is monetized actually does get paid - accurately, efficiently and regardless of what business models were used. As Jon explained, the problem today is that the headaches are multiplying for the financial staff in the trenches who are dealing with increasingly complicated online video monetization/distribution that involves multiple stakeholders. The hodgepodge of spreadsheets and various proprietary systems is beginning to impede business getting done. As a former CFO himself, Jon knows first-hand that when the financial team can't accurately track what the product/sales teams are doing without adding a lot of new overhead, things are going to come to a grinding halt.
Categories: Advertising, Technology
Topics: FreeWheel
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MediaMorph Lands $2 Million To Help Track and Manage Digital Assets
MediaMorph, a Software-as-a-Service provider that helps media companies track and manage their digital businesses across platforms, has raised an additional $2 million. The investors were not disclosed. The new financing brings to $3.5 million the total
amount raised to date. MediaMorph has also announced a business development alliance with United Talent Agency.
Recently I spoke with Shahid Khan, MediaMorph's chairman and chief strategist to learn more about MediaMorph. Shahid was formerly a senior partner at IBB Consulting, a well-known firm in the online video and digital media industries.
Shahid explained that MediaMorph is trying to address the increasing business complexity media companies experience as they digitally distribute their video and other assets to multiple outlets. MediaMorph isn't a content or ad management provider, rather, it offers the software tools to track and report on where assets have been scheduled and delivered so that accurate reports and billing can be performed.
Categories: Deals & Financings, Technology
Topics: MediaMorph
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KIT Digital's Deals Signal "Race to Scale" is Well Underway
This morning KIT Digital announced 3 acquisitions, of social/video platform
KickApps, online video platform Kyte and French OVP Kewego. The aggregate consideration is $77.2 million, as follows, according to the press release:
KickApps - $44.7 million, all in KIT stock (KickApps had $12 million in 2010 revenues and had raised approximately $32 million)
Kewego - $26.7 million, including $11.7 million in cash and $15 million in KIT stock (Kewego had $10.2 million in 2010 revenues)
Kyte - $5.7 million, including $3.1 million in cash and $2.6 million in KIT stock (Kyte had $3.7 million in 2010 revenues and had raised more than $23 million)
This morning I talked to Kyte's COO Gannon Hall (who will relocate to KIT's Prague headquarters as EVP of Marketing) and KickApps' CEO Alex Blum (who will become COO, responsible for product, technology and client services).
Categories: Deals & Financings, Technology
Topics: Kewego, KickApps, KIT Digital, Kyte
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