Clearleap to Bring Cable VOD to Connected Blu-ray Players

Demonstrates joint solution with RCDb

By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/18/2010 4:25:16 PM

Clearleap, which provides a range of cloud-based content management and delivery solutions to cable operators, has partnered with Blu-ray disc software specialist Related Content Database, Inc. (RCDb) to create a joint solution that will allow pay-TV operators to deliver VOD movies directly to Internet-connected Blu-ray players without requiring a set-top box.

The two companies demonstrated the system, which combines Clearleap's cloud-based content management and delivery platform with RCDb's Blu-ray disc software, enterprise server and data services, at the CableLabs Summer Conference this week in Keystone, Colo. To launch the VOD application directly from a cable operator's servers, a consumer would insert the cable operator's Blu-ray disc into a BD-Live player and press start. The Blu-ray disc and service are powered by the RCDb software and the content is then streamed by the Clearleap's TV technology platform, operated on behalf of the cable operator, to the consumer's home.

The RCDb end-to-end system delivers the operator application front-end, as well as service integration and management, to the Blu-ray environment. Clearleap will support content ingest, management and delivery through its cloud-based platform.

Broadband-enabled Blu-ray players are just one of a number of new "connected devices" that Clearleap believes cable operators can deliver their VOD content to, allowing them to stay competitive with "over-the-top" solutions such as the Roku set-top, which offers Netflix's streaming service and a host of pay-per-view movie services. In June the Atlanta-based company actually unveiled a system for delivering cable VOD movies to the Roku set-top, and CEO Braxton Jarratt said at the time that the company aimed to extend its technology to a range of IP-connected devices.

"This new development exponentially increases the number of network end points which an operator can bring to multiple locations within the home," said Zane Vella, CEO of Related Content Database, in a statement. "Integration of our software platform, which today powers millions of Blu-ray consumer experiences, with the Clearleap VOD back-end, leverages a fast growing product category that consumers understand: the Blu-ray player."

"With very little upfront costs or investment of time, the pay-TV industry can now easily create new revenue streams, offer new package plans and reduce the cost of delivering VOD to the home, " added Jarratt. "As direct-to-consumer TV and movie offerings continue to gain market share and siphon off what were traditionally cable dollars, the industry can now move quickly with a more compelling counter-offer."